Preparation, thermal, and mechanical properties of polyethylene glycol/expoxy resin composites as form-stable phase change materials

A series of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/epoxy (EP) resin composites with various mass loadings of PEG (50%-80%), in which PEG acted as phase change materials (PCMs) and EP served as the supporting matrix to afford structural strength and avoided the leakage of melt PEG, was made via casting mold technique. The effect of PEG mass content on the form-stability, thermal property, morphology, and mechanical property of the composite phase change materials (CPCMs) were characterized by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The results displayed that the EP was compatible well with the PEG, and the CPCMs showed excellent form-stability, good thermal reliability and stability even with 80 wt% PEG loading and under high temperature. In addition, the average adhesion force of the PEG/EP CPCMs increased as the PEG mass loading increased. In summary, the as-prepared form-stable PEG/EP CPCMs had promising potential for practical latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) applications.