The preparation and performance of expanded perlite/carbon-dodecyl alcohol composite thermal storage material

Expanded perlite (EP) has been utilized as an adsorbent material in the energy-saving field. However, its practical application has been limited by the inherent characteristic of low thermal conductivity. To overcome this drawback, this study employed organic gel solvent impregnation to achieve in-situ carbonization of EP, resulting in the development of EP carbon material (EPC) composites. Utilizing the porous structure's surface adsorption and capillary action, the EPC composites were utilized as excellent supporting materials to prepare dodecanol(DD)/expanded perlite carbon layer phase change materials (DEPC). The results indicated that the DEPC exhibited good chemical stability, thermal stability, excellent thermal conductivity, and thermal performance. The thermal conductivity of the DEPC composites reached 1.244 W/(m·K), which was several times higher than that of the dodecanol/expanded perlite (DEP) composites. The melting temperature and latent heat value during the melting process were 26.4 °C and 179.56 J/g, respectively. Furthermore, during the solidification process, the temperature and latent heat value were 20.2 °C and 167.32 J/g, respectively. Remarkably, even after 300 melting/solidification cycles, the DEPC composite maintained excellent thermal reliability, suggesting a broad application potential in the field of low-temperature energy storage in the future.