Paraffin Wax Enhanced with Carbon Nanostructures as Phase Change Materials: Preparation and Thermal Conductivity Measurement

Abstract

Synthesize routes of paraffin wax (PW) dopped by carbon nanostructures (fullerene C60 and multi-wall carbon nanotube) as the phase change materials (PCM) with enhanced thermophysical properties have been discussed. Thermal conductivity of prepared composite PCMs in the solid and liquid states was measured. No any meaningful increase of thermal conductivity for PW dopped with carbon nanotubes was observed. However, significant enhancement (up to two times) was found for the thermal conductivity of the PW containing C60 in the solid phase. At the same time, an influence of C60 on the thermal conductivity of PW in liquid phase was insignificant.