The dependence of phase change enthalpy on the pore structure and interfacial groups in hydrated salts/silica composites via sol-gel.

It was found that the procedures for incorporating hydrated salts into silica, including mixing with sol in an instant (S1 procedure), mixing with sol via drop by drop (S2 procedure) and mixing until the sol forming the gel (S3 procedure), had pronounced effects on the phase change enthalpy of hydrated salts/silica composite via sol-gel process. The discrepancy of phase change enthalpies of the composites with the same content of hydrated salts can be as high as 40 kJ/kg. To unveil the mechanism behind, the pore structure of silica matrix and interfacial functional groups were investigated extensively. It was revealed that different incorporation procedures resulted in distinct pore structure of silica matrix and different intensities of interfacial Si-OH groups. The S3 procedure was beneficial to induce the silica matrix with bigger pore size and fewer Si-OH groups. Consequently, the phase change enthalpy of the hydrated salts/silica composite prepared by this procedure was the highest because of its lower size confinement effects and weaker adsorption by Si-OH groups. This study will provide insight into the preparation of shape-stabilized phase change materials for thermal energy storage applications.