Author(s)

Estibaliz Aranzabe^1*, Pedro María Villasante², Ricard March², María Isabel Arriortua³, Aitor Larrañaga³, Ana Aranzabe¹

¹IK4-Tekniker, Eibar, Spain.
²Nubiola Pigmentos S.L., Laudio, Spain.
³Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain.

A standard ultramarine pigment was used to produce phase change material composites, by adsorbing n-hexadecane paraffin around the pigment surface with the aim of obtaining a pigment providing thermal storage capacity apart from color. Vacuum impregnation method was employed optimizing the process variables to maximize the latent heat of the hexadecane/pigment composite. In addition to the process optimization, the stability of the composite having the maximum latent heat was investigated. The hexadecane/pigment composite providing the highest latent heat has a Latent heat of fusion of 44 J/g (around a 20%wt. hexadecane adsorbed in the pigment). Durability of the material was tested by thermo-diffractometric measurements. The results indicate slow reduction of the area intensity up to 6.5% after the 100 cycles.

Ultramarine Blue, Hexadecane, Phase Change Material, Thermal Storage

Aranzabe, E. , Villasante, P. , March, R. , Arriortua, M. , Larrañaga, A. and Aranzabe, A. (2015) More than Color: Pigments with Thermal Storage Capacity; Processing and Degradation Behavior. Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, 5, 171-184. doi: 10.4236/ampc.2015.55018.