Iron oxide nanoparticles-enhanced thermal properties of paraffin- based phase change materials

The growing climate change from a fossil fuel consumption raised a crucial concern, which led to the invention of new green energy sources for reducing environmental impact. To deduct an amount of ecological footprint, we therefore investigated an octadecane paraffin obtained from a hydroprocessing of crude palm oil for use as a phase change material. The thermal performance of the octadecane paraffin-based phase change materials (OPCMs) was improved by mixing with iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and monoacylglycerols (MAGs). The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the IONPs addition was unaffected the onset melting temperature in the OPCMs, whereas the peak and end-set melting temperature linearly increased with IONPs. In addition, the additions of IONPs also improved the crystallization of the OPCM was induced increasing small crystal into OPCM, observed by polarized light microscopy (PLM).