Development of multifunctional microencapsulated phase change materials with green chemistry

Current concerns over depletion of fossil fuels and their atmospheric emissions accelerated the research and development studies on renewable energy storage and energy storage. Energy storage is as important as energy production. Among the energy storage Technologies thermal energy storage (TES) can offer economic alternatives. TES can be done with three different methods. These are sensible heat storage, latent heat storage and thermochemical heat storage. Latent heat storage consists of latent heat storage and recovery by phase change materials (PCM). PCMs are microencapsulated to avoid contact with surroundings during phase change and additional reasons like stability, enhanced thermal conductivity, multi functionality and avoiding decomposition. Shells produced from polymerization reactions are generally used in microencapsulation. Preparing these microencapsulation processes within sustainability principles is important not only for use of clean energy sources but also decreasing wastes. The objectives of this thesis are microencapsulating PCMs with shell materials found in nature and giving them multi-functional properties. For the first time in literature, green chemistry principles are used in PCM microencapsulation and their suitabilityare investigated. The results from 9 microcapsules synthesized with natural shell materials were in accordance with green chemistry principles including reduced wastes, high energy efficiency, environmentally friendly synthesis, safe chemical design and sustainability. Developed microencapsulated PCMs with the special shell materials and the added second layer are candidates to be used in TED systems and provide multi functions.