Thermal properties and stabilities of the eutectic mixture: 1,6-hexanediol/lauric acid as a phase change material for thermal energy storage

Thermal properties and stabilities of the eutectic mixture: 1,6-hexanediol (HE) and lauric acid (LA) as a new phase change material (PCM) for latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicated that the aforementioned HE/LA mixture with eutectic composition (70/30   wt.%) was a suitable PCM in terms of melting point ( T peak   =   36.92   ±   0.71   °C) and latent heat of fusion (Δ H m   =   177.11   ±   7.93   J   g −1 ). After 1000 thermal cycles, the change in melting point for the eutectic mixture was in the range of −0.49% to −1.19%, and the change in latent heat of fusion was in the range of −0.22% to −3.24%. The eutectic mixture was thermally and chemically stable according to results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), volatile test and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic analysis. Therefore, the HE/LA eutectic mixture is an effective TES material to reduce energy consumption.