Synthesis of Fatty Alcohol-Modified Maleic Anhydride Copolymer and Its Application in Shape-Stabilized Phase Change Materials

The petrochemical industry produces many intermediate products rich in mixed olefinic fractions, which call for more efficient utilization. Herein, the self-stabilized precipitation polymerization was used to copolymerize C5 mixed olefins contained in light naphtha with maleic anhydride, giving light naphatha-based maleic anhydride copolymer PLNM. PLNM was grafted with fatty alcohols of different chain lengths by esterification reaction and subjected to amidation reaction with amino-terminated polyoxypropylene D230 to construct a 3D cross-linking network for shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCMs). The esterification kinetics were investigated in detail, which enabled the preparation of a series of fatty alcohol-modified PLNM (FMPLNM) bearing good compatibility with corresponding fatty alcohols above a critical esterification degree. The shape stability, thermal storage performance, cyclic stability, and thermal management performance of the light naphtha-based SSPCMs were assessed systematically. Thus, we have developed an efficient approach to converting “waste” olefins in light naphtha into high-value-added SSPCMs with good shape stability, high enthalpy efficiency, and outstanding thermal management performance.