Fabrication and performances of microencapsulated paraffin composites with polymethylmethacrylate shell based on ultraviolet irradiation-initiated

In order to identify the validity of fabricating microencapsulated phase change material by ultraviolet irradiation-initiated method, the paraffin wax/polymethyl methacrylate microcapsules were prepared. The structural characteristics and thermal properties of the microcapsules were also determined by various techniques. The results of differential scanning calorimetry analyses indicate that the melting and freezing temperatures and latent heats of the microcapsules are 55.8 °C, 50.1 °C and 106.9 J g⁻¹, 112.3 J g⁻¹, respectively. Morphology and chemical characteristic analysis indicate that the spherical microcapsules were formed with average diameter of 0.21 μm and maximum microencapsulation ratio of 66 wt.% without leakage of core materials. The results of accelerated thermal cyclic test show that the microcapsules have good thermal reliability and chemical stability although they were subjected 3000 melting/freezing cycles. Based on all these results, it can be concluded that the microencapsulated paraffin composites have good potential for thermal energy storage purposes and ultraviolet irradiation-initiated method is a prominent candidate for preparing microencapsulated PCMs.