Fabrication And Properties Of Polyurethane Foams Containing Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials

Polyurethane foams containing 5～28 wt% microcapsules were fabricated by adding microencapsulated n-octadecane (MicroPCMs) in reactants. The effects of different congregated granularities of microencapsulated n-octadecane on polyurethane foams were also studied. Polyurethane foams containing relative high content of MicroPCMs were fabricated. The samples were investigated using Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG) and so on. The results show that:1. In order to improve the quality of the foam, the contents of additives should be adjusted. MicroPCMs are evenly inserted inside the foam and compatible well with polyurethane and the microcapsules are intact.2. When relative low granularities of MicroPCMs were used as additives, the remnant water and formaldehyde on the surface of MicroPCMs have effects on the foam. It can not get qualified foam, when MicroPCMs were added into foaming system directly.3. MicroPCMs had better being heat-treated which is helpful for fabricating qualified foam. The heat-treatment condition was selected as 130℃for 30 min.4. The size of cells became average and the physical property were improved when reduce the granularities of MicroPCMs.5. The higher the MicroPCMs content in the composite foam, the higher is the heat storage ability of the foam. MicroPCMs have no significant influence to the thermal stability of polyurethane foam. The viscosity would increase when MicroPCMs were added into foaming mixture.6. Decreasing the viscosity of the mixture is helpful for enhancing the content of MicroPCMs.