Microencapsulation of Thermochromic Materials for Thermal Storage and Energy Efficiency of Buildings
Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Electrical Engineering
Major Professor
Elias K. Stefanakos, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Sesha S. Srinivasan, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Arash Takshi, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Venkat Bhethanabotla, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ryan Toomey, Ph.D.
Keywords
Building Applications, Phase Change
Abstract
Thermochromism and thermochromic materials research and development are of great interest in various applications such as energy efficient building structures, textile industries, thermal or heat storage, antique maintenance processing, and sensors, etc. In general, thermochromic materials have been classified into four categories, including inorganic, organic, polymeric, and hybrid systems, based on their unique material properties and operating conditions. Thermochromic materials have been prepared via different physico-chemical techniques with some of them combined to maximize the yield, stability, and efficiency of the prepared TCMs. Pristine TCMs often undergo severe degradation when exposed to various external stimuli including UV irradiation from sunlight and ambient environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity variations. Such degradation causes property and physical behavioral changes in TCMs. Various microencapsulation procedures and coating techniques are utilized to enhance the thermochromic performance of the materials and to protect the core TCMs from degradation. Many desirable candidate materials have been developed and extensive metrological tools have been deployed to understand the structural, morphological, microstructural, thermal, chemical, surface, and interfacial characteristics of these TCMs and their microencapsulated variants. The potential applications of the microencapsulated TCMs in industrial, commercial, and residential sectors are briefly discussed in this dissertation. The future looks bright for the development of novel microencapsulated TCMs possessing nano-structural derived properties that can be effectively used in inks, paints and coating agents for sustainable energy efficiency and many other applications.This dissertation focuses on different types of microencapsulated materials for thermal energy storage such as a three-component thermochromic core material microencapsulated by a stable PMMA shell formed by the polymerization of a monomer, polymethyl methacrylate (MMA), a synthesized n-eicosane phase change material (PCM) encapsulated by a crystalline sol-gel titania, TiO2, shell, and the design of a commercial dye thermochromic powder as a core with a structured TiO2 shell for reversible and durable thermal energy storage. These three types of encapsulated materials were successfully encapsulated by different methods. Moreover, various thermochromic coatings on glass slides were used to investigate the potential of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to protect thermochromic particles (such as a three-component blue dye, prepared in the lab, or a commercially available black dye) from UV radiation.
Scholar Commons Citation
Hakami, Abdullatif, "Microencapsulation of Thermochromic Materials for Thermal Storage and Energy Efficiency of Buildings" (2021). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/9678
