Incorporation of microencapsulated dodecanol into wood flour/high-density polyethylene composite as a phase change material for thermal energy storage

Highlights: • Various Microencapsulated phase change materials (MicroPCMs) were fabricated. • MicroPCMs in wood-plastic composites (WPCs) show good thermal performance. • The addition of MicroPCMs increases the impact strength and surface hardness of WPCs. • The decreased flexural and tensile properties are acceptable for some applications. Microencapsulated phase change materials (MicroPCMs) containing dodecanol were fabricated using in situ polymerization. Eight groups of wood flour/high-density polyethylene (WF/HDPE) composites with or without MicroPCMs were prepared. The synthesized MicroPCMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Thermal and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The results showed that: (1) various MicroPCMs with different average diameters and core/shell ratios were prepared. The MicroPCMs were successfully incorporated into wood-plastic composites (WPCs) and there was little damage to MicroPCMs during processing; (2) both the melting–freezing temperatures (27.2, 11.3 °C) and the thermal stability (started to decompose at 256.9 °C) of MicroPCMs in composites had the potential for application in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES); and (3) the addition of MicroPCMs adversely affected flexural and tensile properties of WPCs but favored impact strength and surface hardness. The mechanical deterioration was acceptable for applications where mechanical properties are less important.