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Notes:
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Glauber’s salt (sodium sulphate decahydrate) is a promising phase change material (PCM) for use in the building sector, thanks to its high enthalpy of fusion associated with a proper phase transition temperature. It also offers economic and environmental advantages because it can be obtained as a byproduct from the disposal process of lead batteries. However, due to phenomena of phase segregation and supercooling, Glauber’s salt cannot be used in its pure state and requires the addition of rheological modifiers and nucleating agents. In this work, the initial thermal performances of mixtures based on Glauber’s salt with different compositions are compared by using the T-history method and adopting sonication for mixing, and following the same preparation procedure for all the samples. With fixed composition, the effects of the addition sequence of the reagents are also examined. The analysis carried out by optical methods based on light scattering (Turbiscan equipment) allowed us to identify the kinetics of destabilization for each sample and revealed the need to specify in detail the preparation stages of PCMs, in order to make the composition reproducible in the laboratory and on a wider scale.
This publication is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 657466 (INPATH-TES). Author Contributions: Maria Gabriela De Paola carried out the experimental activity. She realized the T-history system and she introduced the use of Turbiscan as method for the characterization of PCM dispersions. Furthermore she carried out, with other authors for the analysis and elaboration of data. Finally, she was responsible of the reference selection. Natale Arcuri cooperated with the acquisition of experimental instrument and during the preliminary part of the research. He was also involved in the study of literature. Vincenza Calabrò, corresponding author, followed and coordinated the experimental activity. She was mainly involved in the analysis and elaboration of experimental data in order to describe the phenomena that occurred. Furthermore she has worked as in the research setup phases, as for writing and revision of the manuscript. Marilena De Simone, responsible of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 657466 (INPATH-TES), was involved in the analysis and elaboration of experimental data. She plays a significant role for manuscript preparation and for writing and revising it until the publication. |
