Microencapsulation of ethanol-soluble inorganic salts for high temperature thermal energy storage

Inorganic salts are typically used phase change materials for high temperature thermal energy storage . Leakage and corrosion of phase change materials can be addressed by microencapsulation methods. However, microencapsulation of ethanol-soluble inorganic salts has not been reported. In this study, lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ) as a model ethanol-soluble inorganic salt was microencapsulated in silica (SiO 2 ) by a novel method. Experimental results show that LiNO 3 was physically encapsulated by SiO 2 , confirming the formation of the microcomposites. The crystal structure of LiNO 3 was not changed during the microencapsulation process. The onset melting temperature and the melting enthalpy of the microcomposites stabilized at 250.9 °C and 265.2 kJ/kg after thermal cycles, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method.