Energy Storage Science and Technology ›› 2022, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (12): 3845-3854.doi: 10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2022.0321

• Energy Storage Materials and Devices • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research on the preparation and application of a phase-change gel for cold storage

Yaxi LI(), Zhenwei TAN, Chuanchang LI()   

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114, Hunan, China
  • Received:2022-06-14 Revised:2022-06-27 Online:2022-12-05 Published:2022-12-29
  • Contact: Chuanchang LI E-mail:csustyaxili@126.com;chuanchangli@126.com

Abstract:

In this study, Na2HPO4·12H2O(DHPD)and Na2CO3·10H2O(SCD)were melt-blended at a ratio of 6:4 to form a eutectic hydrated salt(EHS), after which its supercooling degree and phase change temperature were reduced using sodium pyrophosphate decahydrate, ammonium sulfate, and urea, respectively. Then, four kinds of superabsorbent polymer(SAP)with different mesh numbers(30—60, 60—100, 120—180, and 200—400 meshes)were added to anchor the above system in its three-dimensional network, obtaining four different systems of phase change gels for cold storage. Among the obtained gels, DSSNU-SAP200-400 with a phase change temperature of 2.7 ℃, phase transition latent heat of 137.7 J/g, supercooling degree of 1.9 ℃, and thermal conductivity of 0.435 W/(m·k)had the best phase-change performance than the other cold storage gels. Subsequently, this study characterized the microscopic morphology, crystal composition, and contact angle of DSSNU-SAP200-400, fully verified its chemical compatibility between the components in the system, and expounded its regulatory mechanism of ammonium sulfate, urea, and SAP on EHS performance. The application-based experimental results showed that the cold storage module developed using DSSNU-SAP200-400 as the core could maintain the grape's ultrahigh freshness within 49 h, fully proving its application potential in cold-chain transportation. Therefore, we propose that this research will help to promote the application of hydrated salts in cold storage, thereby providing a theoretical and experimental basis for the research and development of the phase-change cold-storage gel technology.

Key words: hydrated salt, cold storage gel, superabsorbent polymer, eutectic hydrated salt modification, cold chain transportation

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