Preparation and characterization of urea/ammonia bromide composite phase change material.

Summary: In order to find phase change materials that can be better applied in the field of solar collectors, the phase change heat storage properties of urea (U) and ammonium bromide (AB) were studied. The eutectic ratio of UAB was found by the Edison method, and different additives were added to UAB by dipping and mixing. The structure and property of the composites were characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and TG/TGA, respectively. The results showed that the eutectic ratio of UAB was 6:3; it was weakly acidic after melting not layered. When 6‐wt% EG and 1‐wt% nanometer titanium dioxide (TiO2) were added, the thermal conductivity of the material increased by 3.62 times; the thermal diffusivity was increased by 6.77 times. When the mass fraction of EG is between 1% and 6%, the larger the mass fraction of EG, the greater the thermal conductivity of the material. After 1000 cycles, the composite material performance was stable; at the same time, the used materials can be used as fertilizers to solve the problem of material pollution, which indicated that the prepared UAB/TiO2/EG composite PCMs had great application prospect in the field of solar collectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]