Organic-inorganic hybrid shell microencapsulated phase change materials prepared from SiO2/TiC-stabilized pickering emulsion polymerization

Phase change microcapsules (MicroPCM) with polymer-SiO2/TiC hybrid shell have been prepared via pickering emulsion polymerization using organically modified SiO2 and TiC nanoparticles as pickering agents. The inorganic particles were incorporated in the shell of resultant MicroPCM, which can be enhanced the performances of MicroPCM. On the basis of SEM micrographs, the resultant MicroPCM exhibited a perfect spherical morphology and a well-defined core-shell structure. The size of the microcapsules can be adjusted by the nanoparticle concentration. In addition, Thermal properties of the MicroPCM was investigated using DSC, TGA and forward looking infrared system. The results indicate that the MicroPCM with polymer-SiO2/TiC hybrid shell has good thermal energy storage-release performance, enhanced thermal stability, and increased thermal conductivity. Our study demonstrated that pickering emulsion polymerization is a simple and economical approach for the preparation of MicroPCM with high thermal performance. The MicroPCM with polymer-inorganic hybrid shell has promising prospect in the field of thermal energy storage.