Articolo in rivista, 2019, ENG, 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.109992

Magnesium sulphate-silicone foam composites for thermochemical energy storage: Assessment of dehydration behaviour and mechanical stability

Calabrese, Luigi; Brancato, Vincenza; Palomba, Valeria; Frazzica, Andrea; Cabeza, Luisa F.

Università di Messina, CNR ITAE, Universitat de Lleida

This paper assesses the mechanical stability and dehydration behaviour of a new composite material constituted by magnesium sulphate hepta-hydrate, used as filler at vary contents, and a porous silicone, used as matrix in order to evaluate its applicability in sorption thermal energy storage field. This new composite was developed to avoid the typical issues of salt hydrates such as swelling, agglomeration and corrosion issues occurring during hydration/dehydration process. A preliminary physical-mechanical characterization, by means of morphological and calorimetric analysis, was carried out to investigate the main properties of the composite foams. The morphological characterization showed that the foam pores were homogenously distributed and well interconnected to each other. Thermo-gravimetric dehydration tests, have demonstrated that the tested samples are able to exchange efficiently water.

Solar energy materials and solar cells 200

Keywords

MgSO4 center dot 7H(2)O, Composite foams, Thermochemical energy storage, Mechanical properties, TGA

CNR authors

Palomba Valeria, Brancato Vincenza, Calabrese Luigi, Frazzica Andrea

CNR institutes

ITAE – Istituto di tecnologie avanzate per l'energia "Nicola Giordano"