Porous polymeric microbeads for stabilization of phase change materials
발표자
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초록
내용
Microbeads prepared from renewable polymers could represent a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic microbeads. We fabricate form-stable PCMs (FSPCMs) which can maintain a solid shape during the phase transition process using biodegradable microbeads. Polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer, was used, and the thermal properties of the microbeads were improved by the stereo-complexation of PLA. The porous structure was prepared by a double emulsion solvent evaporation method using salt as an osmotic agent and achieved porosity of 68%. PCM/PLA composite was obtained via vacuum impregnation. In FT-IR spectra, no chemical interactions were noticed between PCM and PLA during adsorption process. The interconnected pore network supported PLA to contain PCM. The FSPCM had a liquid-to-solid phase transition temperature of 26.8 ºC, which was 5 ºC lower than that of neat PCM. This work explored how to prepare biodegradable microbeads and use them as support matrix for FSPCM.