Aqueous preparation of polyethylene glycol/sulfonated graphene phase change composite with enhanced thermal performance

Highlights: • We report an aqueous preparation technique of PEG/graphene phase change composite. • Hydrophilic sulfonated graphene (SG) nanosheets were synthesized. • Large increase in thermal conductivity is attained at low SG loading. • High latent heat is retained due to the low filler loading. • Affinity between SG and PEG contributes to the enhanced thermal performance. - Abstract: A polyethylene glycol (PEG)/sulfonated graphene (SG) phase change composite with enhanced thermal performance was prepared by solution processing in aqueous medium. It is remarkable that the addition of only 4 wt.% of SG to PEG could lead to a four times higher increase in thermal conductivity and a slight decrease in the phase change enthalpy, which is attributed to the formation of efficient thermal conductive network within the PEG matrix relevant to the excellent thermal property and unique 2-dimensional morphology of graphene as well as strong interface affinity between PEG matrix and SG nanosheets. The aqueous preparation technique is expected to pioneer a new way to prepare environment friendly organic phase change materials, and the production of PEG/SG composites is potentially scalable due to the facile fabricating process