Preparation and Phase Change Performance of Graphene Oxide and Silica Composite NaSO·10HO Phase Change Materials (PCMs) as Thermal Energy Storage Materials.

In this study, a novel nucleating agent composed of graphene oxide (GO) and silicon dioxide (SiO) (GO-SiO) is developed. GO is used as a skeleton material through which SiO nanomaterials are absorbed and subsequently incorporated into NaSO·10HO phase change materials (PCMs). Furthermore, this study examines the phase change performance of the composite NaSO·10HO materials. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the physical combination of GO with a SiO nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results showed that the GO-SiO composite exhibited a layered structure and excellent dispersibility. The GO-SiO composite NaSO·10HO PCMs displayed a low level of supercooling, i.e., about 1.2 °C with the addition of GO-SiO at 2.45 wt%. This was because the synergistic relation of the GO and the high dispersion SiO, imparted more nucleation sites for NaSO·10HO. Additionally, the prepared PCMs achieved high phase change latent heat and thermal conductivity, even under these conditions. The results show that the GO-SiO in the NaSO·10HO exhibited advantageous application prospects for the improvement of the thermal performance of hydrate salts.