| Abstract Scope |
Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) are thermal energy storage materials. Emulsion polymerization is the most common encapsulation method thanks to its economical and simple synthetic routes. In this work, by utilizing emulsion method, we synthesize two different MPCMs: PMMA PCMs and PMMA-DDT PCMs of which 1-Dodecanethiol (DDT) was used as a chain transfer agent. To explore the effect of chain transfer agent to the synthesis of MPCMs, each MPCM has been chemically, physically, and thermally characterized by using Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The analysis shows that DDT promotes uniform formation of spherical MPCMs by enhancing oil-water interfacial stability of the emulsions. Also, the DDT was not included in the structural element and did not affect the thermal properties of the MPCMs such as heat capacity and melting point, demonstrating that DDT served its role as a surfactant only |