Tuning Thermal Properties of Beeswax Incorporating ZnO, CuO and Soot Particles

Abstract

Phase change materials that have low thermal conductivity take a longer time to store and to discharge the stored thermal energy. The thermal conductivity of phase change materials can be enhanced using different additives. Beeswax is a phase change material with a high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the thermal conductivity, melting temperature, latent heat, and heat capacity of beeswax incorporating ZnO, CuO and soot particles with the 0.0, 0.064, 0.326, 1.304, and 3.260 g in the 20 g beeswax have been studied. The thermal conductivity measurement shows that the incorporation of ZnO, CuO and Sootparticles improved the thermal conductivities of the beeswax, i.e., from 0.2502W/mK to 2.89W/mK. Moreover, the differential scanning calorimetry measurements revealed that the melting temperature, latent heat, and heat capacity of the beeswax are decreased because of the incorporation of ZnO, CuO and Soot particles. Therefore, it is possible to tune the thermal properties of the beeswax incorporating metal oxide, soot particles to use beeswax-metal oxide/soot composite as a phase change materials.