Facile synthesis of resorcinol-melamine-formaldehyde microcapsules containing hexadecane for thermal energy storage

In this study, it is aimed to synthesize and characterize microencapsulated phase-change material (PCM) which can be used in thermal energy storage applications with thermoregulating properties. Within this study, hexadecane was used as core material. Microcapsules of PCMs were synthesized using both melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin and resorcinol-melamine-formaldehyde (RMF) resin. To produce microcapsules with high thermal resistance and good energy storage capacity; 3 different amounts of resorcinol (1,5 g, 2 g, and 2,5 g) were added during the process. The color of hexadecane/RMF capsules turns into reddish-brown color depending on the amount of added resorcinol. The thermal, morphological, and chemical properties of the composites were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. It can be revealed from the characterization results that leakage free colored hexadecane microcapsules were synthesized successfully and they offer good thermal properties and mechanical stability for thermal energy storage applications.