Microencapsulated phase change materials (mPCMs) have been widely investigated for thermal energy storage. In this study, 1-tetradecane@waste poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) shells were prepared using solvent evaporation technique for the first time. The particle size was tuned using a Pasteur pipette and classified as large-size microcapsules (mPCM/LP) and small-size microparticles (mPCM/SP) with the shell-to-core ratio of 1:2. Characterization tests of microcapsules were carried out using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, particle size distribution (PSD) analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. In addition, 1000 accelerated thermal cycles were performed to observe the thermal stability of the microcapsules, and post-FT-IR spectroscopy measurements were performed to show structural stability. The average particle sizes for mPCM/LP and mPCM/SP were 612 μm and 145 μm, respectively. The average latent heat, melting temperature, and encapsulation rates were calculated as 126.7 J/g, 5.0 °C and 66.5%, respectively, for mPCM/LP and 136.9 J/g, 4.7 °C and 71.9%, respectively, for mPCM/SP. As a result, it was shown that more sustainable microcapsules could be successfully produced in this way. In addition, the microcapsules produced are fireproof due to PVC shell. The microparticles are considered potential materials for maintaining cold protection or anti-icing on the road pavements.
Alkan et al. (Tue,) studied this question.