No abstract

The phase change material is currently being regarded as an effective cooling media to be applied in the thermal management of lithium batteries-powered vehicles, in which the inorganic hydrate phase change material is desirable and widely investigated due to the high thermal conductivity, latent heat value, and low cost. However, when applied to thermal energy storage applications, supercooling and phase separation are problematic. To effectively circumvent this issue, this work considers utilizing the disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate as the matrix of the composite phase change material, as the phase transition temperature is suitable for the battery's operating temperature range. Meanwhile, the nucleating agent sodium metasilicate nonahydrate with similar lattice parameters and the thickener carboxymethyl cellulose are used to suppress the supercooling and eliminate the phase separation, respectively. Effects of nucleating agent, surface modified aluminum nitride, and short-cut carbon fiber on the supercooling degree, and thermal conductivity and curing performance in the phase change material are evaluated and discussed in detail to determine the optimal preparation scheme for Na 2 HPO 4 Á12H 2 O/modified AlN/CF inorganic composite phase change materials. Experimental results show that the addition of 4 wt% Na 2 SiO 3 Á9H 2 O, 4 wt% CMC, 12 wt% modified AlN, and 6 wt% CF reduces the supercooling