Experimental Investigation on the Thermal Performance of Wall Panels With Nano‐Enhanced Phase Change Materials

Building walls with phase change materials (PCM) have the capability to save energy, shift peak space cooling loads, and improve thermal comfort in occupied buildings. However, incorporating PCM into existing wall types, which are made up of multiple layers, presents many challenges and adds to building time. This manuscript presents a novel Nano‐Enhanced Phase Change Material (NPCM), developed by integrating aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) nanoparticles into a paraffin‐based PCM, for the investigation of the thermal performance of wall panels. The NPCM stabilizes indoor temperatures and lessens the need for active heating and cooling systems by absorbing and storing thermal energy as latent heat during melting and releasing it during solidification. The major objective of the NPCM is to investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of PCM‐enhanced concrete, develop optimal PCM types based on climatic conditions, measure thermal performance using sensors, and analyze heat transfer and energy dynamics mathematically. The effect of NPCM location is analyzed by measuring the attention rate and delay time, which reflects the capability of the NPCM to absorb and liberate the thermal energy. The thermal performance (TP) of PCM‐combined wall panels is evaluated utilizing ANSYS for numerical analysis and MATLAB for comparison with other materials. The NPCM shows better results than all existing materials like Microencapsulated Phase Change Material (MPCM), Composite Phase Change Material (CPCM), and Shape‐stable Phase Change Material (SPCM). The NPCM achieves the compressive strength (CS) of 25 MPa and then the flexural strength of 7 MPa. These results indicate that the MPCM has higher compressive and flexural strength compared to the existing materials.