SpringerLink
Log in

Synthesis and Characterization of Silica-Encapsulated n-Tetracosane and the Effect of Surface Modification by Silane Coupling Agents

  • Published:
International Journal of Thermophysics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Microencapsulation of n-tetracosane, whose melting point is approximately 50 °C, in a silica shell has been performed through the sol–gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as the precursor for silica-shell formation. Additionally, two types of silane coupling agents were used to modify the surface of the microcapsules to change the wettability. The morphology of the microcapsules was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The chemical composition was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results confirmed the presence of n-tetracosane and silica in the synthesized microcapsules. Wettability analysis showed hydrophobic and hydrophilic features because of the added silane coupling agents. From the results of differential scanning calorimetry measurements, the encapsulation ratio of the microcapsules increased with decreasing TEOS/n-tetracosane ratio, and the highest encapsulation ratio was 87.1 % at a TEOS/n-tetracosane ratio of 0.25. The pH in the microcapsule solution was affected by addition of a silane coupling agent, and shifting the pH to the basic side lowered the encapsulation ratio owing to enhancement of silica condensation. After 100 differential scanning calorimetry cycles, there was no significant degradation in the phase-change temperatures and enthalpies, which confirmed the good phase-change stability and repeatability. Therefore, the microcapsules are a potential material for thermal-energy-storage systems to effectively utilize energy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Germany)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

All datasets presented in this study are included in the article.

References

  1. L. Zhao, H. Wang, J. Luo, Y. Liu, G. Song, G. Tang, Fabrication and properties of microencapsulated n-octadecane with TiO2 shell as thermal energy storage materials. Sol. Energy 127, 28–35 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. H. Wang, Y. Chen, J. Li, L. Guo, M. Fang, Review of encapsulated salt hydrate core-shell phase change materials. Kona Powder Part. J. 37, 85–96 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. S. Chavan, R. Rudrapati, S. Manickam, A comprehensive review on current advances of thermal energy storage and its applications. Alex. Eng. J. 61, 5455–5463 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. S.T. Latibari, M. Mehrali, M. Mehrali, T.M.I. Mhlia, H.S.C. Metselaar, Synthesis, characterization and thermal properties of nanoencapsulated phase change materials via sol-gel method. Energy 61, 664–672 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. L. Pan, Q. Ji, Y. Qin, Y. Jiang, Z. Zhang, S. Zhang, Z. Wang, Diverting phase transition of high-melting-point stearic acid to room temperature by microencapsulation in boehmite. RSC Adv. 3, 22326–22331 (2013)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. G. Zhang, C. Cai, G. Zhu, L. Zhou, G. Liu, J. Militky, J. Marek, M. Venkataraman, J. Yao, Preparation properties and encapsulation of high thermostability phase-change material. J. Fiber. Bioeng. Inform. 12, 43–54 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. J.M.H. Liu, D. Sun, J. Wang, S. Cui, Synthesis of phase change microcapsules with binary fatty acid ester core and their feasibility investigation in energy conservation of cementitious materials. Constr. Build. Mater. 330, 127212 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. H. Zhang, S. Sun, X. Wang, D. Wu, Fabrication of microencapsulated phase change materials based on n-octadecane core and silica through interfacial polycondensation. Colloids Surf. A 389, 104–117 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. P. Teeka, A. Chaiyasat, P. Chaiyasat, Preparation of Poly(methyl methacrylate) microcapsule with encapsulated jasmine oil. Energy Procedia 56, 181–186 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. M. Palanikkumaran, K.K. Gupta, A.K. Agrawal, M. Jassal, Effect of emulsion preparation method on microencapsulation of n-octadecane using melamine-formaldehyde pre-polymers. Indian J. Fibre Text. Res. 35, 101–106 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. Sari, C. Alkan, D.K. Doguscu, C. Kizil, Micro/nano encapsulated n-tetracosane and n-octadecane eutectic mixture with polystyrene shell for low-temperature latent heat thermal energy storage applications. Sol. Energy 115, 195–203 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Z. Chang, K. Wang, X. Wu, G. Lei, Q. Wang, H. Liu, Y. Wang, Q. Zhang, Review on the preparation and performance of paraffin-based phase change microcapsules for heat storage. J. Energy Storage 46, 103840 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. H. Zhang, X. Wang, D. Wu, Silica encapsulation of n-octadecane via sol-gel process : a novel microencapsulated phase-change material with enhances thermal conductivity and performance. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 343, 246–255 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. H. Wang, W. Ma, J. Zhang, Z. Yang, D. Zong, Novel synthesis of silica coated palmitic acid nanocapsules for thermal energy storage. Journal of Energy Storage 30, 101402 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. L. Cao, F. Tang, G. Fang, Preparation and characteristics of microencapsulated palmitic acid with TiO2 shell as shape-stabilized thermal energy storage materials. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 123, 183–188 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Y. Zhang, X. Wang, D. Wu, Design and fabrication of dual-functional microcapsules containing phase change material core and zirconium oxide shell with fluorescent characteristics. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 133, 56–68 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Y. Fang, T. Zou, X. Liang, S. Wang, X. Liu, X. Gao, Z. Zhang, Self-assembly synthesis and properties of microencapsulated n-tetradecane phase change materials with a calcium carbonate shell for cold energy storage. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 5, 3074–3080 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. W. Pan, J. Ye, G. Ning, Y. Lin, J. Wang, A novel synthesis of micrometer silica hollow sphere. Mater. Res. Bull. 44, 280–283 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. C. Zhu, Y. Lin, G. Fang, Preparation and thermal properties of microencapsulated stearyl alcohol with silicon dioxide shell as thermal energy storage materials. Appl. Therm. Eng. 169, 114943 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. F. He, X. Wang, D. Wu, New approach for sol-gel synthesis of microencapsulated n-octadecane phase change material with silica wall using sodium silicate precursor. Energy 67, 223–233 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. X. Yang, Y. Liu, Z. Lv, Q. Hua, L. Liu, B. Wang, J. Tang, Synthesis of high latent heat lauric acid/silica microcapsules by interfacial polymerization method for thermal energy storage. J. Energy Storage 33, 102059 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. A.T. Naikwadi, A.B. Samui, P.A. Mahanwar, Melamine-formaldehyde microencapsulated n-Tetracosane phase change material for solar thermal energy storage in coating. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 215, 110676 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Sin, J. Lee, S.W. Joo, N. Son, M. Kang, Form-stabled phase change material loaded with Ag NPs onto encapsulated n-tertracosane@SiO2, and thermal energy storage behavior. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 97, 267–279 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Y. Yamada, A. Horibe, Thermal properties and related core/shell structure of n-tetracosane microencapsulated by calcium carbonate. Appl. Therm. Eng. 178, 115512 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Y. Cai, J. Li, L. Yi, X. Yan, J. Li, Fabricating superhydrophobic and oleophobic surface with silica nanoparticles modified by silanes and environment-friendly fluorinated chemicals. Appl. Surf. Sci. 450, 102–111 (2018)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. F. Kurayama, S. Suzuki, T. Oyamada, T. Furusawa, M. Sato, N. Suzuki, Facile method for preparing organic/inorganic hybrid capsules using amino-functional silane coupling agent in aqueous media. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 349, 70–76 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. A.J. Briard, M. Bouroukba, D. Petitjean, N. Hubert, M. Dirand, Experimental enthalpy increments from the solid phases to the liquid phase of homologous n-alkane series (C18 to C38 and C41, C44, C46, C50, C54 and C60). J. Chem. Eng. Data 48, 497–513 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. A.S. Dorcheh, M.H. Abbasi, Silica aerogel; synthesis, properties and characterization. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 199, 10–26 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

We thank Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

No funding was received for this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan

    Kyosuke Okuno, Kazuma Isobe, Akihiko Horibe & Yutaka Yamada

Authors
  1. Kyosuke Okuno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kazuma Isobe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Akihiko Horibe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yutaka Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

KO and YY designed the research; KO performed the research; KO, KI, AH and YY analyzed the data; KO and YY wrote the original manuscript and all authors approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yutaka Yamada.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Ethical Approval

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Selected Papers of the 13th Asian Thermophysical Properties Conference.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Okuno, K., Isobe, K., Horibe, A. et al. Synthesis and Characterization of Silica-Encapsulated n-Tetracosane and the Effect of Surface Modification by Silane Coupling Agents. Int J Thermophys 44, 69 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-023-03179-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-023-03179-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation