Preparation and properties of shape-stable phase change material with enhanced thermal conductivity based on SiC porous ceramic carrier made of iron tailings

SiC porous ceramic carriers with adjustable porosity of 79.9%–90.7% were prepared by foam gel-casting forming and carbothermal reduction reaction sintering, using industrial waste fine-grained iron tailings and graphite powder as raw materials. Then paraffin/SiC shape-stable phase change materials were prepared by spontaneous infiltration employing paraffin as phase change material. Thermal conductivity of the SiC carriers (0.17–0.31 W/m·K) is 2.7–3.7 times higher than that of iron tailings porous ceramics with the same porosity. A thermal conductivity model of the SiC carrier is established and verified by experimental data. Phase composition, microstructure, molecular structure, mechanical properties and thermal properties of the shape-stable phase change materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR, WDW, Hot Disk and DSC, respectively. There is only a physical combination between paraffin and SiC carriers. The compressive strength of the shape-stable phase change materials (2.0–2.3 MPa), weight loss and latent heat loss are less than 5% and 4.7% after 100 thermal cycles, respectively, which can meet the application requirements as a functional material. Thermal conductivity of the shape-stable phase change materials (0.7–0.73 W/m·K) is significantly improved, a latent heat of 138.5 J/g, and the efficiency of energy storage and release is 2.3–3.3 times as good as than that of paraffin, suggesting that this material is capable of recycling and reusing waste heat as a highly efficient thermal energy storage system.