Composite scaffolds of graphene oxide enriched carboxymethyl cellulose for thermal energy storage

As a by-product of the petroleum industry, paraffin wax (PW) has a huge stock. In the context of today's fossil fuel shortages, the effective utilization of PW is of particular significance. In this paper, a simple and size-controllable method was used to synthesize graphene oxide (GO) enriched carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) aerogel beads with several millimeters, and the beads prepared were applied to load PW for fabricating composite phase change materials (PCMs). The possible synthesis mechanism of CMC and GO enriched CMC porous spheres aerogel beads was discussed. The structure and thermal energy storage properties of the composites were studied. The results showed that, compared to CMC beads, incorporation of GO into CMC beads could optimized its structure, and improve its loading ratio ω of PW from 82.8 % to 92.9 %, corresponding to the melting enthalpy of the composite increased from 161.4 J/g to 181.0 J/g. Besides, the composite has good thermal stability and thermal reliability. Given the simplicity and ease of control of its synthesis method, and the excellent thermal energy storage capacity of the synthesized PW/CMC@GO, this study opens a promising avenue for enhancing PW utilization while providing a high-performance thermal energy storage material with simple and efficient production.