Synthesis and characterization of wood-based phase change material with high photothermal conversion efficiency

Phase change materials attract tremendous interest for building energy conservation due to their auto-temperature regulation and thermal energy storage capacity. However, its practical application is hindered due to the leakage problem and poor photothermal conversion efficiency. To address these issues, a scalable wood-based phase change material was prepared by impregnating polyethylene glycol (PEG) into wood particles doped with Fe3O4 and subsequent a hot press in this study. PEG was encapsulated by wood particles through its abundant pore structure and leakage rate of prepared wood-based phase change material (FWPCM) was only 2.9%, which solved the leakage problem effectively. FWPCM presented high latent heat of 73 J g(-1) and slowed down the temperature change obviously. Addition of Fe3O4 powder endowed FWPCM a high photothermal conversion efficiency and thermal conductivity (0.3545 W/(m*K) was increased by 125% compared to PW. So FWPCM had potential to be used as building engineering material for energy collecting, storage and conversion benefited by its great thermal performance, superior durability, simple preparing process and acceptable mechanical property.