Antileakage performance of Schiff base-reinforced thermal energy storage wood for indoor temperature control

Thermal energy storage wood has been rapidly developed as a green and renewable energy-saving building material. In this study, bio-based Schiff bases (VF) were prepared from vanillin and furfurylamine via aldehyde–amine condensation and used as a small molecule fixative. Subsequently, VF and dodecylamine were mixed uniformly and impregnated into rubberwood under pressure, affording thermal energy storage wood (TESW-x%VF). The results revealed that TESW-x%VF exhibited adjustable enthalpy (41.67–88.23 J g −1 ) and room-temperature phase transition (25°C–27°C). Moreover, the addition of VF improved the antileakage performance of TESW. According to density functional theory calculations, this is because the adsorption energy between VF and dodecylamine molecules has increased by 3–8 times compared to dodecylamine molecules. The above results provide a solution for the leakage issue associated with organic phase-change materials and aid in the future development of energy-saving wood building materials, which also improves the high-value utilization of chemical components in agricultural and forestry crops.