Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy & Buildings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enb

A critical review on phase change materials (PCM) for sustainable and

energy efficient building: Design, characteristic, performance and
application
Xiaonan Wang a, Wengui Li a,⇑, Zhiyu Luo a, Kejin Wang b, Surendra P. Shah c,d
a
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
b
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, IA 50011, USA
c
Center for Advanced Construction Materials, The University of Texas at Arlington, TX 76019, USA
d
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Building construction deserves many attentions due to its huge energy consumption, while Phase Change
Received 18 August 2021 Materials (PCMs) provide positive solutions for improving energy efficiency and enhancing the thermal
Revised 12 October 2021 properties of construction materials. However, PCMs also present some negative impacts, such as weak-
Accepted 1 February 2022
ening mechanical properties and increasing costs, chemical instability and so on. In this paper, the main
Available online 5 February 2022
characteristics of PCMs, design and incorporating methods, effects on energy consumption and construc-
tion reliability are comprehensively reviewed and discussed. Although many materials have the capacity
Keywords:
of phase change, some organic PCMs are more suitable due to the higher latent heat and favourable phase
Phase Change Material (PCM)
Building
change point in buildings, when eutectic PCMs present greater potential to become the optimal one but
Energy saving much effort is required for investigations. Current design methods and application in construction mate-
Thermal property rials can meet the essential requirements, but the effectiveness is inadequate, including low efficiency of
Sustainability phase changing, leading to low energy storage. Subsequently, some promising research direction and crit-
ical areas for optimization are also proposed accordingly in this paper. Future development of PCMs,
including novel PCM and efficient incorporation, real applications and functions in buildings are pro-
posed. Additionally, multifunctional construction materials combining PCM deserve much attention
and possess promising prospect for energy saving in sustainable and energy efficient building
construction.
Ó 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Classification of PCMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1. Organic PCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2. Inorganic PCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3. Eutectic PCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4. Distinctions among different kinds of PCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. PCM properties and characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1. Phase change temperature and latent heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2. Thermal stability and thermal conductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3. Chemical constituent and chemical constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4. Alternative methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. Numerical simulation for PCM performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1. Numerical modelling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2. Numerical models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

⇑ Corresponding author: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.111923
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X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

5. Incorporation methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.1. Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.1.1. Microencapsulated PCM (MicroPCM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1.2. Macroencapsulated PCM (MacroPCM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.2. Shape stabilization PCM (SSPCM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2.1. Vacuum impregnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2.2. Direct impregnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.2.3. Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.3. Multiple methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6. PCM enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.1. Thermal properties and phase change efficiency enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.1.1. Nano-particles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.1.2. Conductive fins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.1.3. Conductive structure and pre-treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.2. Impacts of PCM composites on cement-based materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7. Application of PCMs in buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.1. Applications for thermal storage in buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.1.1. Applications in building wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.1.2. Applications in roof, ceiling, and floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.1.3. Applications in gypsum board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.1.4. Other applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.2. Applications in severe environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7.3. Challenges in practical application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8. Future research directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.1. Novel PCM with enhanced properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.2. Reliable and economical PCM composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.3. Targeted optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.4. Workability of PCM concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8.5. Multifunctional concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8.6. Long-term efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
9. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Declaration of Competing Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1. Introduction PCMs show great capability [9,10]. PCMs incorporated in walls,

ceilings, and indoor coatings can reallocate energy in an appropri-
Modern infrastructures are required to satisfy increasing ate manner that remits heat transferring and narrows temperature
demands for enhanced sustainability, green economy, intelligent fluctuation range [11] promoting huge energy saving [12–14]. In
performance and extended longevity. This urges various develop- this case, the energy waste is alleviated further leading reduction
ments in advanced and smart materials, design, manufacturing, of pollution, also lower demand for electric and fossil energy
and characterization techniques. Phase Change Material (PCM) is [15]. Briefly, PCMs can restore and release thermal mass by phase
one of such smart materials and its states can be changed between change when suffering temperature fluctuation, which is useful to
gas, liquid, and solid when it suffers heat or cooling [1–3]. In the improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption
period of phase changing, the heat is absorbed or released natu- [6,16,17].
rally to relieve temperature fluctuation so that thermal properties Other than temperature modification and energy-saving, PCMs
of construction materials are modified. PCMs have attracted grow- play a critical role in controlling construction quality since they
ing attention as shown at Fig. 1 and it is a widely accepted way to
save energy and make a green environment [4–6].
Civil infrastructures, like buildings, bridges, and pavements,
9000
often undergo temperature difference during their entire service
lives, including the different temperatures between interior and 8000
Number of publications

exterior, summer and winter, day and night, constructing and 7000
operating. These differences often pose negative effects on struc-
6000
tural performance where extra energy-consuming ways are
employed to ease the problems. Taking the building room as an 5000
example, residents use an air conditioner to defend the barely tol- 4000
erable indoor temperature in the summer and warm the room in
the winter resulting in a large consumption of electricity. The heat 3000

flux through the houses is the important reason causing uncom- 2000
fortable indoor temperature [7]. Heat preservation and insulation
1000
are achieved by heat insulation layer in most buildings which is
a conventional and popular method [8]. However, the heat insula- 0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
tion layer is able to block the heat flow but it has little influence on
Year
Thermal Energy Storage (TES). TES can control the heat flow based
on storing the redundant thermal energy and relocating in which Fig. 1. Academic publication of phase change materials.

2
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Paraffin

Hexadecane
Alkane

Heptadecane
Organic
Lauric Acid
Others
Polyethylene
Glycol

Sodium Nitrate
Salt Hydrate
Potassium Nitrate
Phase
Change Inorganic
Material Al
Metal/Metallic
Fe3O4

Capric and Lauric

Organic and Fatty Acid
Organic
Lauryl ALcohol
and Stearic Acid

CH3COONaԫ3H2O
Organic and and NaS2O3ԫ5H2O
Eutectic
Inorganic
n-eicosane and
Fe3O4

Al and Zn
Inorganic and
Inorganic
KNO3 and NaNO3

Fig. 2. Classification of PCMs.

significantly influence mechanical properties, corrosion of rein- modify hydration heat and relieve temperature difference to
forcement, and durability. Most constructing materials are pro- enhance strength and decrease cracks of cement-based materials
duced based on cement, like mortar and concrete that are major bringing durability improvement [18]. In addition, chemical reac-
base materials for PCMs application, where hydration reaction is tion induced deteriorations, such as corrosion of reinforcement,
the essential process to provide strong strength. Sometimes impro- alkali-silica reaction, and sulfate attack, could be accelerated under
per hydration heat leads to weak strength and shrinkage cracks. high temperature. PCMs can help these deteriorations by regulat-
Also, the temperature differences mentioned in the last paragraph ing concrete temperature. Some researchers have innovated differ-
tend to decrease safety and durability. In this case, PCMs could ent methods in order to solve these problems [19–21].

3
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

From the presented results, there are many problems impeding fore, information of working performance will be evaluated in
the development and application of PCMs in construction. The fun- Chapter 7.
damental one is selection of optimal PCMs with specific thermal
properties since there are various demands in different construc- 2.1. Organic PCM
tion [22–24]. Then, the fabrication of construction materials is pre-
cise and the original design is changed leading to performance Organic PCMs have a wide range of thermal property due to
reduction due to PCMs addition. Furthermore, PCMs have relatively their various molecular structures that mostly are hydrocarbon
lower stability compared to conventional construction materials molecules. As shown in Fig. 2, the sub-classification of organic
that is prone to decrease the durability. The high cost is also a crit- PCMs is modified into ‘‘alkane” and ‘‘others” where the paraffin
ical problem because PCM incorporating process costs plenty of is taken as a particular kind, compared with ‘‘paraffin and non-
time and money, in addition to the cost of PCMs purchase. paraffin” classification [9,18]. The paraffin is the most typical
If superiorities are brought into full play and inferiorities are organic PCM attracting much attention [3,25,26] which consists
controlled, PCMs can improve the comprehensive properties of of a mixture of alkane containing between twenty and forty carbon
the construction. Now available achievements complete a major atom. On the contrary, other organic PCM mainly means a pure
step towards success. Unfortunately, it is obvious that currently substance that is the reason why the paraffin is revised as a partic-
finished researches are not strong enough to support the wide- ular kind as shown at Fig. 3.
spread use of PCMs introduced in constructs. To promote the appli- The pure alkanes have an obvious phase change phenomenon at
cation of PCMs in civil engineering, this paper reviews researching room temperature that endows them to become PCMs. Some of
results about PCMs in past years. After the instruction, Chapter 2 them with the general chemical formula CnH2n+2, like hexadecane
reviews the classification and gives some basic suggestion of [27], cetane [28], heptadecane [29] and n-eicosane [30], have been
PCM selection in construction followed by Chapter 3 presenting demonstrated that they have positive impacts as PCMs. Generally,
the major properties and testing methods. Chapter 4 gives infor- the melting temperatures of alkanes increased with relative molec-
mation for computer simulation that is an effective method to ular mass or the number of carbon atom. Hexadecane [27] has the
evaluate thermal performance. Incorporation is the critical process chemical formula C16H34 with the phase change point of 18–20 °C
to fabricate PCM composites reviewed at Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 and enthalpy of 224 kJ/kg, a saturated hydrocarbon of the alkane’s
shows some enhancement methods for PCM performance as well family with good compatibility and no chemical reaction with sup-
as the advantages and disadvantages of PCM on cement-based porting materials. With the increase of relative molecular mass,
materials, the major construction materials. Chapter 7 presents melting temperature of heptadecane (C17H36) [29] and n-
PCM applications and influence factors in civil engineering. Apart Eicosane (CH3(CH2)18CH3) [30] were 22.91 °C and 37.27 °C respec-
from the energy saving and indoor temperature regulation in tively but the enthalpy of n-eicosane was lower. These materials
buildings, benefits of PCM on crack decreasing, ice melting, etc. also presented good incorporation operability and no chemical
are also demonstrated. Chapter 8 proposes many several helpful interaction with supporting materials.
directions for researchers to take meaningful researches in the Paraffin is a mixture of various alkanes, so it showed different
future. In this paper, many important research results and experi- properties in experiments [25,31,32]. Meng et al. [33] believed
ences are concluded and analyzed, from PCMs basic features and the paraffin-based PCM showed the advantages of suitable phase
incorporation techniques to the comprehensive performance of change temperature and enthalpy, good thermal stability and reli-
PCM composites and applications. The goal of this paper is the ability, and effective temperature regulation performance. For the
effective development of PCM in civil engineering so that it focuses suitable phase change temperature and enthalpy, paraffin showed
on the construction materials. The specific and various demands of various melting points and could be modified to designed value. Qu
civil engineering are considered to propose most efficient research- et al. [26] selected paraffin with a melting temperature of around
ing direction. 44 °C that can be modified to 35–44 °C with beneficial latent of
260 kJ/kg which was appropriate to prevent hot flow in summer.
The good thermal stability was proved widely. Ramakrishnan
2. Classification of PCMs et al. [34] selected paraffin RT21 consisting of saturated hydrocar-
bons produced by Rubitherm company to fabricate a novel PCM
To take full advantage of PCM, it is essential to explore and cat- composite. After 100 thermal cycles from 15 to 35 °C, a common
egorize the features. Most materials have the phase change feature
in nature. For instance, the water turns into water vapour above
the boiling point and into ice under the freezing point. These mate-
rials can be defined as PCMs but only some of them are able to
become PCMs as thermal performance enhancers. PCMs classifica-
tion is helpful to systematically conclude features and is essential Acid Alkane Mixture
to develop the perfect PCM efficiently. Most PCMs can be classified
into 3 categories (organic, inorganic, and eutectic) based on consti- (Paraffin)
tution. Due to the different molecular structures, obvious charac-
teristics can be seen from the classification. Therefore, this Alcohol
classification method is widely adopted but there is room for
improvement. The classification structure proposed in this paper
and some representative PCMs used in construction are shown in Pure Alkane
Fig. 2. This classification shows a novel point of view on organic Macromolecule
PCM that is explained in Section 2.1.
This chapter mainly gives and analyses the properties of pure
PCMs rather than detailed information of their working perfor- Others Alkane
mance in application. The reason is that PCMs often are processed
as PCM composites, presented at Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 before
incorporated in matrix material (e.g. concrete and gypsum). There- Fig. 3. Constitutions of organic PCM.

4
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Table 1
Main properties of sample organic phase change materials.

PCM Phase change temperature (°C) Density Latent heat Refs.

Hexadecane Tp: 18–20 °C — Hp: 224 kJ/kg [27]
Cetane Tp: 18 °C 880 kg/m3 at solid Hp: 231 kJ/kg [28]
770 kg/m3 at liquid
Heptadecane Tm: 22.91 °C — Hm: 182.36 kJ/kg [29]
Ts: 21.75 °C Hs: 209.62 kJ/kg
n-eicosane Tm: 37.27 °C — Hp: 250.41 kJ/kg [30]
Ts: 28.87 °C
Paraffin ZDJN-28 Tp: 26–28 °C 850 kg/m3 at solid Hp: 231.2 kJ/kg [25]
765 kg/m3 at liquid
Paraffin Tp: 44–46 °C — Hm: 259 kJ/kg [26]
Hs: 260 kJ/kg
Paraffin Tp: 48.2–60.5 °C — Hp: 136.4 kJ/kg [31]
Paraffin6035 Tp: 57.2–59.9 °C — [32]
Paraffin Tm: 49.8 °C — Hm: 208.4 kJ/kg [41]
Ts: 52.9 °C Hs: 198.2 kJ/kg
Paraffin Tm: 60.3 °C (tested) 900 kg/m3 at 20 °C Hm: 212.5 kJ/kg [20]
Hs: 212.5 kJ/kg
Paraffin Tm: 21 °C — Hm: 212.7 kJ/kg [33]
Paraffin wax P56-58 Tp: 42–72 °C 900 kg/m3 Hp: 250 kJ/kg [38]
Paraffin RT21 Tm: 24.5 °C (peak) — Hm: 133.3 kJ/kg [34]
Ts: 20.2 °C (peak) Hs: 132.1 kJ/kg
Paraffin Tp: 56–58 °C — Hm: 246.74 kJ/kg [35]
Hs: 238.14 kJ/kg
Paraffin Tp: 41–44 °C — Hp: 128.5 kJ/kg [36]
Paraffin Tm: 58.52 °C (peak) — Hm: 151.56 kJ/kg [37]
Ts: 56.18 °C (peak) Hs: 144.62 kJ/kg
Paraffin wax Tp: 18 °C 880 kg/m3 Hp: 236.81 kJ/kg [39]
Paraffin wax Tm: 44 °C 930 kg/m3 at solid Hm: 190 kJ/kg [40]
830 kg/m3 at liquid
Lauric Acid Tm: 37.026 °C (tested) — Hm: 145.998 kJ/kg [45]
Lauric Acid Tm: 43.5–48.2 °C 940 kg/m3 at solid Hm: 187.21 kJ/kg [49]
885 kg/m3 at liquid
Stearic Acid Tm: 53.1 °C (peak) — Hm: 194.0 kJ/kg [46]
Ts: 49.3 °C (peak) Hs: 193.4 kJ/kg
Hexadecanol Tm: 42.1 °C — Hm: 232.6 kJ/kg [51]
Tetradecanol Tm: 36.2 °C — Hm: 234.7 kJ/kg [48]
Ts: 33.1 °C Hs: 231.8 kJ/kg
dye-linked PU Tp: 54.7 °C (peak) — Hp: 128.2 kJ/kg [51]
PU-5 Tm: 59.08 °C (peak) — Hm: 129.59 kJ/kg [50]
Ts: 28.46 °C (peak) Hs: 105.45 kJ/kg
PEG 1000 Tm: 33.32 °C (peak) — Hm: 143.16 kJ/kg [52]
Ts: 29.67 °C (peak) Hs: 166.71 kJ/kg
PEG Tm: 62 °C (peak) — Hm: 198.5 kJ/kg [53]
Ts: 35.1 °C (peak) Hs: 176.9 kJ/kg
PEG Tm: 52.48 °C — Hm: 153 kJ/kg [54]
Ts: 19.18 °C Hs: 151.46 kJ/kg
Pentaglycerine Tm: 86.06 °C (peak) — Hm: 166.0 kJ/kg [55]
Ts: 75.12 °C (peak) Hs: 159.1 kJ/kg

Table 2
Main properties of sample inorganic phase change materials.

PCM Phase change temperature Density Latent heat Refs.

SavEÒ OM37 Tm: 35–40 °C 860 kg/m3 at 40 °C Hm: 218 kJ/kg [15]
960 kg/m3 at 30 °C
NaNO3 Tm: 306 °C 2260 kg/m3 Hm: 170–190 kJ/kg [56]
NaNO3 Tm: 305 °C 2110 kg/m3 at 304 °C Hm: 178 kJ/kg [57]
1908 kg/m3 at 306 °C
Na2SO4
H2O Tm: 32.4 °C 1464 kg/m3 Hm: 252 kJ/kg [58]
CaCl2
6H2O Tm: 28.84 °C — Hm: 170.2 kJ/kg [59]
CaCl2
6H2O-CO(NH2)2 Tm: 24.18 °C — Hm: 149.2 kJ/kg [59]

variation range of temperature in Australian summer, the paraffin time delay (up to 40 min) to reach the given temperature. More
RT21 still had stable energy storage capability with negligible information is presented in the Chapter 7.
reduction. For effective temperature regulation performance, it In general, paraffin has been one of the most prevailing PCM
got common acceptance [35–37]. For instance, Khan et al. [38] and been used in various research [39–41]. After decades of devel-
used paraffin wax type P56-58 produced by Merck. The PCM opment, some commercial PCM products were produced by com-
reduced the heat flux by up to 17.2% between hot and cold water panies like BASF. The paraffin was preferred PCM in some
baths leading to fewer temperature fluctuations and a significant products like Micronal PCM DS 5001X [42] and Micronal DS

5
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

5040X [43], Mikrathermic D24 [44]. These products are well 24.18 °C and 149.2 J/g respectively. This change enhanced the ther-
encapsulated PCM components based on polymer shell. mal performance according to the condition in the experiment.
Apart from a pure and mixed alkane (paraffin), other organic There was also commercial inorganic with low phase change tem-
PCMs mainly are organic acid [45–47] and organic alcohol [48]. perature, such as SavEÒ OM37 [15] with melting point of 35–40 °C
The fatty acid is an important organic acid that is a carboxylic acid and latent heat of 218 J/g, but the examples were rare.
with a long aliphatic chain including saturated fatty acids (caprylic
acid, capric acid, lauric acid, etc.) and unsaturated fatty acids 2.3. Eutectic PCM
(myristoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, sapienic acid, etc.). The lauric
acid (LA) attracted much attention with a melting temperature Eutectic is a homogeneous mixture of substances that melts or
higher than 40 °C and good latent heat [49]. Stearic acid (SA) had solidifies at a single temperature that is lower than the melting
a higher phase change temperature around 50 °C and high point of any of the constituents [60]. Eutectic PCMs means that
enthalpy [46]. The tetradecanol, saturated fatty alcohol, had great two or more PCMs are mixed to get a novel PCM with specific prop-
latent over 230 kJ/kg and a moderate phase change point [48]. erties. A eutectic alloy is common in some industries improving
Macromolecule materials have been widely used in the incorpo- our daily life and it may be a eutectic PCM thanks to phase change
ration and a few polymers like polyethylene glycol (PEG) also of metal. Kawaguchi et al. [16] took Zn-30 wt% Al alloy as the
showed the capability as core PCM. Some researchers have eutectic PCM coated by ZnO and Al2O3. It exhibited good potential
explored the application of polymers in PCM. Fan et al. [50] took as a heat storage material over 400 °C but it is not suitable for
the modified polyurethane (PU) as solid–solid PCM. They used building materials. Other eutectic alloy and inorganic-inorganic
PEG to synthesize different molecular weights of PU. Tang et al. eutectic PCMs met the same problem [61,62] including ternary
[51] made dye-linked PU as additional PCM. Karaman et al. used hybrid molten salt (Li2CO3-K2CO3-Na2CO3). Miliozzi et al. [61]
PEG [52] to fabricate a novel SSPCM with suitable melting and investigated properties of solar salts consisting of 40% potassium
freezing temperatures and moderate latent heat. In other research, nitrate (KNO3) and 60% sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as PCMs in cement
PEG played a positive role as core PCM and its thermal properties mortars, at an operative temperature higher than the melting tem-
were improved [53,54]. Organic PCMs have various kinds more perature, under different incorporation methods and morphologi-
than that mentioned before [55]. The main properties of men- cal kinds.
tioned organic PCMs are presented at Table 1. On the contrary, organic-organic eutectic PCMs embraced
building materials efficiently and demonstrated prosperous devel-
2.2. Inorganic PCM opments. Meng and Wang [63] designed a capric and lauric fatty
acid (CA-LA with mass fraction of 66:34) eutectic form-stable
Inorganic PCMs also are an important part showing different PCM. Xiao et al. [64] produced LA-SA with different melting tem-
features compared with organic ones and inorganic salts are typi- peratures of 42 °C, 50 °C, and 58 °C by changing the proportion.
cal examples, as shown in Table 2. Bauer et al. [56] investigated Ren et al. [47] designed PCMs based on ternary fatty acids consist
and compared experiments results focusing on important proper- of LA, myristic acid (MA) and palmitic acid (PA). The results
ties of sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as a PCM. Besides nitrite formation demonstrated its good performance of compatibility and energy
in molten NaNO3 was extended to relatively lower temperatures, regulation. myristic acid and tetradecyl alcohol (MA-TD) was
thermo-physical property data presented its reliability as a PCM. melted well together with the mass ratio of 9:16 [65]. This PCM
Although the enthalpy was good, it was noticeable that the average showed good latent heat and suitable phase change point for reg-
melting point is higher than 300 °C. Similar features were showed ulating room temperature. Yang et al. [66] designed a PCM com-
by Laing et al. [57] in the application in solar thermal power plants. prising lauryl alcohol (LAL), SA and aluminium oxide
A preferred kind was the hydrated inorganic salt with low melting nanoparticles (LAL-SA/Al2O3). Base on thermal properties gotten
point. Sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) had a high melting temperature of from experiments, the optimal proportion is proposed, and Al2O3
884 °C but sodium sulfate decahydrate (Na2SO4
H2O) counterpart was not responsible for phase change. Its properties were kept
was only 32.4 °C due to the water of crystallization [58]. In this with only 2.4% and 2.2% difference after 200 times cycles from
experiment, the Na2SO4
H2O layer successfully reduced the maxi- 10 °C to 80 °C.
mum mean temperature by 3 °C [58]. Fang et al. [59] introduced The other eutectic PCMs consist of organic and inorganic PCMs
calcium chloride hexahydrate (CaCl2
6H2O) as PCM for room tem- which have the potential to narrow the obvious gap between
perautre regulation. This CaCl2
6H2O had melting point of 28.84 °C organic and inorganic with ideal properties. Chen et al. [67] intro-
and latent heat of 170.2 J/g and was changed by 6% CO(NH2)2 to duced sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT) and sodium thiosulfate pen-

Table 3
Main properties of sample eutectic phase change materials.

PCM Phase change temperature Density Latent heat Reference

Zn-Al Tp: 429.8–508.5 °C — Hp: 166 kJ/kg [16]
KNO3:NaNO3 = 4:6 Tm: 225.7 °C 2290 kg/m3 Hm: 110 kJ/kg [61]
KNO3:NaNO3 = 5:5 Tm: 220 °C — — [62]
Li2CO3:K2CO3:Na2CO3 = 32:35:33 Tm: 395.1 °C 2310 kg/m3 Hm: 273 kJ/kg [97]
Ts: 377.9 °C Hs: 228.2 kJ/kg
Binary Fatty Acids (CA, LA) Tm: 19.79 °C — Hm: 154.16 kJ/kg [63]
Ternary Fatty Acids (LA, MA, PA) Tm: 33.5 °C — Hm: 143 kJ/kg [47]
LAL-SA/Al2O3 Tm: 21.3 °C LA: 0.83 g/mL Hm: 205.9 kJ/kg [66]
Ts: 19.5 °C SA: 0.85 g/mL Hs: 205 kJ/kg
LA-SA (LA 90 wt%) Tm: 50 °C (peak) — — [64]
LA-SA (LA 65 wt%) Tm: 42 °C (peak) — — [64]
LA-SA (LA 20 wt%) Tm: 58 °C (peak) — — [64]
SAT-STP Tm: 41.58 °C — Hm: 211.9 kJ/kg [67]
MA-TD Tm: 28.5–42.5 °C — Hm: 198 kJ/kg [65]
Ts: 30.1–21.1 °C

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Table 4
Performance of microencapsulation incorporation.

Leakage Phase Change Temperature Latent Heat Thermal Conductivity Capsule Material Reference
No leakage Tp: 437–512 °C Hp: 117 kJ/kg — Al2O3, ZnO [16]
DTp: 2.8 +3.5 °C DHp: 30%
No leakage — Hm: 212.5 kJ/kg — acetylated cellulose nanofibril [20]
DHm: 19%
(80 wt% PCM)
No leakage Tm: 38.13 °C Hm: 158.94 kJ/kg — SiO2 [30]
DTm: +0.86 °C DHm: 37%
Ts: 31.35 °C Hs: 156.43 kJ/kg
DTs: +2.48 °C DHs: 36%
No leakage — Hp: 180 kJ/kg TC: 0.15 W/(m∙K) Double silica layers [35]
DHp: 25% DTC: +133.33%
(mean)
Note: The results in this table belong to MicroPCM
The ‘‘D” means the difference between PCM and MicroPCM
The ‘‘+” means increase and ‘‘–” means decrease

Inorganic Tp (oC) temperatures like in battery, vehicle, and industrial waste heat
recovery [16]. Although there were inorganic PCMs [58,59] used
0 60 120 180 240 300 in construction with low phase change temperature, the used
275 275
Organic PCM
energy mostly contributed to the bound water rather than the
Inorganic PCM main part. The melting points of Na2SO4
H2O and CaCl2
6H2O are
250 250 only 32.4 °C and 28.84 °C but the counterparts of Na2SO4 and CaCl2
are 884 °C and 772 °C.
225 225 As for eutectic PCMs, some properties can be modified from
pure PCMs meeting the requirement but the designs need much
development for better results. The eutectic PCM had the bigger
Hp (kJ/kg)
Hp (kJ/kg)

200 200 potential to show the perfect chase change temperature and latent
heat. In addition, some factors severely affect PCMs performance. A
175 175 high supercooling posed negative effects on the phase changing on
the expected state [69]. This problem mostly was showed in inor-
ganic PCMs like hydrate salt but it can be reduced by additives [67]
150 150
and exact effectively investigation was necessary [70]. The poten-
tial corrosion of inorganic PCMs was another major problem that
125 125 required highly for incorporation techniques. Alkaline and metallic
materials in civil engineering were prone to suffer this threat.
100 100 In contrast, organic PCMs generally were stable on most aspects
0 20 40 60 80 100 except flammability. Although the ignition point was higher than
Organic Tp (oC) the environmental and working temperatures, the flammable
property will cause a catastrophic consequence once any fire haz-
Fig. 4. Compare of organic and inorganic PCMs. ard occurred. As a kind of PCM with the most promising prospect,
there still was a long distance to go so the concluded feature is not
tahydrate (STP) to prepare a SAT-STP eutectic hydrated salt PCM. systematic but the high cost definitely was the immediate
The favourable mass fractions of SAT and STP is 28:72 that have problem.
high enthalpy and good phase transition temperature. As shown
at Table 3, the differences among eutectic PCMs were obvious.
The merging of organic and inorganic PCMs has the possibility 3. PCM properties and characterization
for perfect properties but the current research is lacking.
3.1. Phase change temperature and latent heat
2.4. Distinctions among different kinds of PCM
Following classification, property testing is the next consider-
As shown in Fig. 4 and previous tables, there are important dis- able step. There are various measuring techniques used in a labo-
tinctions according to their classification. Most of them have good ratory for thermal, mechanical, morphological properties, etc. A
latent heat bring the possibility for energy storage but the applica- developed testing technique can expedite the research and
bility is different based on the phase change temperature. The improve reliability. The key purpose of PCMs application is thermal
organic PCMs showed phase change temperature varying between regulation and energy saving. Therefore, the main properties of
20 °C and 60 °C that is close to the suitable temperature in civil PCMs are thermal properties such as melting temperature and
engineering [43,68]. Paraffin as the special one had a wide range latent heat as shown in Section 2.2. The differential scanning
of melting point and latent heat based on its various mixing con- calorimetry (DSC) is adopted as a universal method to test phase
stituent. This characteristic supports paraffin to work well in vari- change temperature and latent heat [33,35,36,41,48,63]. By defini-
ous conditions without great unexpected affects. On the contrary, tion, DSC is the measurement of the change of the difference in the
the point of most inorganic PCMs is much higher than environ- heat flow rate to the sample and a reference sample while they are
mental temperature leading little phase change. This difference subjected to a controlled temperature program [71]. In another
proved that organic PCMs may have a larger application range in word, the whole process of heart flow, temperature and weight
civil engineering and inorganic PCMs can perform better in high with time are presented in DSC curves. Thanks to the high sensitiv-
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X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Propserties Popular Methods

Phase change temperature DSC

Latent heat DSC-TGA

TGA
Thermal stablility

Thermal conductivity Thermal conductivity analyser

Thermal constant analyser
Laser flash

Microstructure

SEM
TEM
Chemical constituent and constitution

FTIR
Combination of compound

Crystal structure XRD

Fig. 5. Major testing method for main properties.

ity for heat flow and wide range of available temperature, DSC [27,72]. There is other available equipment like synchronous ther-
results can test melting temperature and sensible heat, latent heat mal analysis [35] but the analyzing theory is the same as what is
directly, also specific heat, solidification temperature, etc. with mentioned before. What is remarkable about TC is that researchers
high accuracy that makes it the preferred method. It should be have tried various test methods or equipment, such as laser flash
noticed that the settlement of DSC testing had a great influence [54], thermal constant analyser [53], hot disk thermal constant
on the results [23]. It is noticeable that the DSC curve may pre- analyser [25,73,74], transient hot-wire method [56], and thermal
sented heat flow changes caused by various reasons including ther- conductivity analyzer [21]. In general, it is not difficult to test the
mal decomposition and chemical reaction not only phase change. TC and various methods are acceptable.
Analysing the reasons for every change is necessary and thermo-
gravimetric analyzer (TGA) can be a great method that will be 3.3. Chemical constituent and chemical constitution
introduced in next sub-section. DSC-TGA means these two meth-
ods are used simultaneously. Thermal properties mentioned above are macroscopic expres-
sions of chemical properties. Analysis of chemical constituent
3.2. Thermal stability and thermal conductivity and chemical constitution enables researchers to give a micro-
scopic presentation and explore inner reasons. That is the founda-
Thermal stability and thermal conductivity (TC) are frequently tion to promote novel PCMs innovation. The Fourier Transform
used in studies of PCMs. The thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) is Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is welcomed and used in many exper-
an instrument for measuring the temperature-mass relationship iments [29,33,35,47,72]. FTIR is a method to measure the infrared
of a substance by thermogravimetric method which is a convenient spectrum by measuring the interferogram and Fourier changes on
method to judge the thermal stability in a certain temperature the interferogram with advantages of high detection sensitivity,
8
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

high measurement accuracy, high resolution (0.1–0.005 cm 1), fast simulation results from EnergyPlus to analysze economical and
measurement speed, low astigmatism and wide band (10,000 to environmental feasible of PCM added in wall and roof in Washing-
10 cm 1) [75]. From FTIR, we can tell that whether the combina- ton, Charlotte, Dallas, Changsha, Wuhan, Nanning, Porto-Alegre,
tion is strong between core PCMs and supporting materials in and Asuncion where located in humid subtropical climates.
SSPCM [29,35,51,53], and whether any chemical reaction occurred TRNSYS is popular a modular dynamic simulation software in
[29,46,47,52,63]. Some researchers used X-ray diffraction (XRD) to thermal engineering especially in building energy efficiency opti-
test it [26,51,72] where the FTIR is based on chemical bond and the mization calculation. Borderon et al. [86] utilized TRNSYS software,
XRD is based on the crystal structure. There were various methods coupled with Matlab, to simulate a house with a PCM/air system in
have been used for different objectives (except thermal or chemical 4 different climates. Zhu et al. [87] optimized the six parameters
properties). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to (air gap thickness, external sun-shading length, wall thickness,
observe the microstructures. According to the observed pictures, vents area, lower and higher melting temperatures) of PCM
the distribution and the morphological features of PCMs, pores, Trombe wall according to the annual energy load by TRNSYS cou-
and skeletons are clear [26,29,47,72]. The popular methods used pled with GenOpt. Kuznik et al. [88] verified the reliability of the
in the laboratory are given in Fig. 5. Type 260, based on a PCM wallboard, compared with experimental
data and good agreements were showed in the external tempera-
ture step increase/decrease and the indoor surface temperature
3.4. Alternative methods
of the cell vertical wallboards. However, it is undisputed that the
capabilities of PCMs modelling in buildings still get insufficient
The parameters presented before can be gotten in different
confidence.
methods and equipment, like flux meter [15,76], transmission elec-
tron microscopy for microstructure [54], transient guarded hot
plate technique [14], and energy dispersive spectroscopy [6]. What 4.2. Numerical models
presented in this section is welcomed by most researchers. Many
works are desired to improve testing efficiency and accuracy, and The reliability of simulation results greatly depend on the scien-
overcome some shortages. To enhance efficiency, Zhang et al. tific rationality of used models. The model establishment needs
[77] developed and verified a simple T-history method that can multiple factors of real applications and hypothetical conditions.
test the melting point, heat of fusion, specific heat and TC. The Wijesuriya et al. [89] empirically validated eight models related
main advantage is that a lot of samples and many thermophysical to PCM calculation. Although surface and nodal temperature were
properties can be tested at the same time. This is an attempt but accurately predicted, there was an obvious deviation of the heat
further development like this is significant. DSC is a popular flux prediction. Researchers kept developing numerical methods
method for thermal property tests but it required small and rela- continuously [80,90–94]. Anyway, numerous numerical models
tively uniform test specimens that make DSC unrealistic for onset have developed based on different software according to their
experiments. Shukla et al. [78] utilized a dynamic heat flow meter specific purposes but the reliability was not convincing perfectly
apparatus (DHFMA) to measure the dynamic thermal properties. and the application range ought to be further extended. Like Dobri
The DHFMA method was developed based on HFMA without et al. [17] designed a semi-analytical model based on an analytic
expensive hardware updates. The reliability of the novel method solution of the local matrix temperature to avoid the discretization
was verified by comparison with DSC and it was used to test a on the particle scale. Chuttar et al. [95] introduced machine learn-
12  12 in. gypsum board incorporated with PCM. ing technique to predict the time of phase change with a small
error. Selimefendigil and Öztop proposed [96] a novel model based
on proper orthogonal decomposition and investigated the impacts
4. Numerical simulation for PCM performance of Reynolds number and corrugation surface on paraffin melting
and solidification.
4.1. Numerical modelling

Recently, many researchers tend to take computers as a strong 5. Incorporation methods

assistant to enhance researching efficiency and accuracy. As a
result, many models and formulas were proposed to investigate PCMs have great power in TES that bring novel development
the PCM performance. The commercial numerical computing soft- applied in structures. It is notified that PCMs struggling to work
ware is a good option to achieve this goal after specific supplemen- effectively if they are added without any supportive process.
tary modification. ANSYS is a popular large universal finite element Directly adding PCM may cause an unexpected chemical reaction
analysis (FEA) tool in the world that can calculate thermal perfor- or microstructure changes, leading to decreasing working perfor-
mance and cooperated with customized function. Nie et al. [79] mance of both PCM and matrix materials. Researchers have tried
programed a function based on enthalpy-porosity in C++ language various methods to enhance or maintain the performance of PCMs;
to solve the interfacial heat transfer coefficient. This function was anyway, incorporation is an indispensable part as presented by
introduced in ANSYS to develop a two-dimensional numerical near all PCM application. The positive incorporation maintains
model that is used to test the melting behaviour of the PCM. May- the thermal properties of PCM and allows them to keep away from
torena et al. [80] employed ANSYS FLUENT to calculate the models potentially unstable changes. There are 2 popular incorporation
comprehensively designed by the authors. Many researchers used methods called encapsulation and shape stabilization.
ANSYS FLUENT to simulate heat transfer [81–83].
EnergyPlus is capable of calculating both the cooling and heat- 5.1. Encapsulation
ing loads of buildings and the dynamic energy consumption of
buildings throughout the year. Jia et al. [28] investigate the thermal The encapsulation method means some compacted materials
performance and energy consumption by EnergyPlus in different are coating the core PCM as capsules, which is an easy solution.
climates where hot climate showed better energy saving. The opti- The coated PCMs have certain independent spaces that physically
mal position and kind of PCM were proposed among the experi- shield themselves from matrix materials and the capability of
mental groups. This was a popular method to take the climate in energy regulation is maintained as much as possible. The encapsu-
consideration like Mi et al. [84]. Kabdrakhmanova [85] used the lation method is further classified into microencapsulation and
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X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Fig. 6. Scheme of microencapsulation in PCM.

the help of pure O2 atmosphere at 800 °C. Finally, the PCM was
coated by ZnO and Al2O3 layers with 500 nm and 300 nm.
The SiO2 has brilliant reliability as an inorganic shell. Do et al.
[30] designed a SiO2 shell to encapsulate PCM. The core materials
and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) were mixed in the same mass
and stirred at 50 °C lasting 1 h. Then cationic surfactant solution
with CTAB (C19H42BrN) and HCl were added. The final products
were obtained after cleaning. The combination was strong and
the morphological stability was great. The double-layer method
was preferred by researchers. Yu et al. [35] fabricated a double
inorganic shell based on silica coating paraffin PCM. The inner layer
was TEOS hydrolyzed silica. This manufacturing process went at
60 °C and a stirring speed of 400 r/min then the PCM particles were
encapsulated by SiO2. The manufacturing process of the outer layer
was more complicated, modified spherical silica.
The spherical silica was obtained from the mixture solution of
ammonia water, anhydrous ethanol, deionized water, TEOS, and
anhydrous ethanol. The spherical silica was modified by propyl tri-
methoxy silane in the ethanol solution. Next, modified spherical
Fig. 7. Scheme of macroencapsulation in PCM. silica (after ultrasonic oscillation in deionized water) and SiO2
coating PCM (in anhydrous ethanol added ascorbic acid aqueous
solution) were mixed and stirred. Designed PCM with double lay-
macroencapsulation but the difference is more than the literal ers was finally produced after purification. The results demonstrate
change (size). The former showed that numerous capsules filled that the layers can be very tight without unexpected products.
with PCM can be randomly and uniformly introduced into matrix Although the latent heat reduced dramatically after encapsulation,
materials. The latter usually was made as a part of structures like thermal stability was higher by 47 °C and TC was increased dra-
a layer embedded in a wall or a panel bonded at the surface. matically. The main properties of MicroPCM are showed in Table 4.

5.1.1. Microencapsulated PCM (MicroPCM) 5.1.2. Macroencapsulated PCM (MacroPCM)

Fig. 6 demonstrates the production of MicroPCM and the meth- Unlike microencapsulation, macroencapsulation is operated on
ods are diverse. Paraffin was encapsulated by acetylated cellulose the macroscale. Therefore, there is a wide range of operation space
nanofibrils (AcCNF) in [20]. The paraffin and AcCNF suspension at and choices and various macroencapsulation are applied. For
different mass ratios were magnetically stirred at the rate of example, Rathore et al. [15] took aluminium tubes with a dimen-
500 rpm for 20 min at 80 °C. The AcCNF-paraffin colloidal suspen- sion of 0.5 mm thickness, 16.7 mm diameter, and 900 mm or
sions had great physical and thermal stability. The latent heat and 370 mm length as the container to store PCMs. Li et al. [97] filled
specific heat were slightly lower than that of pure PCM and PCM in stainless steel capsule that was a spherical shell with a
increased with a higher proportion of PCM with higher thermal diameter of 34 mm and thickness of 2 mm. Besides good compat-
stability proved by higher degradation point. ibility and the moderate energy density of MacroPCM, the positive
The metallic oxide is compacted becoming an accepted capsule heat transfer capacity of the capsule was tested. Grabo et al. [98]
material. Kawaguchi et al. [16] produced a kind of MicroPCM with simulated MacroPCM in super-ellipsoidal based shapes with a
a mean diameter of 35.7 lm. There were main two steps for man- radius of 27.4–71.6 mm. The prismatic capsule shapes presented
ufacture. The first was boehmite treatment to form a AlOOH-based higher packing density and higher energy storage. Talebizadehsar-
shell coating PCM particular (Zn-Al alloy). The second was heat- dari et al. [99] filled paraffin into a zigzag plate heat exchanger and
oxidation treatment to make the shell as Al2O3 and ZnO shell with revealed the influence of different zigzag angles shown at Fig. 7.
10
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Fig. 8. Scheme of shape stabilization in PCM.

Although there was little change in the earlier duration, the rate but may affect the maximum absorption proportion, and vac-
remarkable enhancement occurred with time elapses, when the uum impregnation did not always work better than direct impreg-
melting and solidification rates increased by 38.3% and 16.3% due nation [103].
to higher zigzag angles from 15° to 60°. Zhou et al. [100] designed
a kind of similar model but the zigzag wall was replaced by the
5.2.1. Vacuum impregnation
sinusoidal wall and the amplitude of sinusoidal was the key vari-
Inorganic porous materials were welcomed as supporting mate-
able. With increasing amplitude, the higher temperature of PCM,
rials. Chen et al. [53] selected SBA-15, a superior representative of
higher melting rate, higher earlier heat flux and lower later heat
mesoporous silica materials. Furthermore, dopamine biomimetic
flux were observed.
modification was introduced to fabricate carbon layer-modified
Some researchers embedded PCMs between different structure
mesoporous silica (CLMS). The phase change enthalpy and TC were
layers to conducts their research mostly focusing on the heat flux
increased after incorporation with SBA-15 then application of
and energy-saving except mechanics. These methods can be
CLMS expanded these advantages. Karaman et al. [52] selected
defined as special macroencapsulations. Liu et al. [74] filled the
dried diatomite to absorb melted PEG. The vacuum process lasted
gap between two pieces of glass by PCM with a volume fraction
for 90 min under 65 kPa. In this condition, the maximum absorp-
of 97%. The 3% is left for volume expansion in the phase change
tion was 50 wt%. In the reference [63] The impregnation was oper-
process. Similar applications were showed in experiments [38,69]
ated at 50 °C and the composite was obtained with 49 wt% of PCM.
also numerical models [101,102] for investigating the optimal
This SSPCM showed good thermal reliability and stability and leak-
location of PCM in walls, roof [40] and other parts.
age prevention even though it suffered a thousand thermal cycles.
Compared to MicroPCM, MacroPCM has extremely high PCM
The cheap ceramsite with average porosity of 42.3% and the pore
content because the process is more controllable leading to great
diameter of 8–11 mm was selected by Yang et al. [66]. The mixed
energy store density. Besides, MacroPCM is often used as an inde-
core material (PCM and metal particles) and dried ceramsite were
pendent structure only for thermal control while the MicroPCM is
heated to 80 °C in a vacuum environment lasted over 3 h. The recy-
mixed with building materials bring additional influences on the
cled expanded glass aggregate (EGA) with size of 0.25–4 mm was
matrix material that will be presented in Section 6.2. Due to less
selected by Yousefi et al. [104] to absorb PureTemp 23. After
inner structure and continuous void, the percentage of PCM occu-
trapped water being removed, 80% absorption ratio was achieved
pation of MacroPCMs can reach a very high level. However, The
based on EGA. The thermal stability was kept well.
MacroPCM application heavily relies on the specific structure that
is unfriendly for commercial process and demands much for in-situ
2.5
construction. On the contrary, the usage of MicroPCM is similar to
a conventional additive that is positive for mass production and
65.48%
universal application. By the way, the SSPCM has these features 2.0
of MicroPCM showed in this paragraph.

1.5
Count

5.2. Shape stabilization PCM (SSPCM)

Shape stabilization is another welcomed incorporation tech- 1.0

nique. It impregnates PCMs into the supporting material rather
than coated by a shell. As shown at Fig. 8. The application method
of SSPCM is similar to that of MicroPCM. For leakage prevent and 0.5
high absorbing rate, the supporting material has a porous structure
in most cases. In a sentence, PCMs are absorbed into porous sup-
porting materials become SSPCM composites. The most prevailing 0.0
processing methods are vacuum impregnation and melting (direct) 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
impregnation [34], also others like the self-acting combination. Absorption (%)
Many factors determined the incorporation of SSPCM. For example,
a high temperature of liquid PCM could accelerate the absorbing Fig. 9. Normal distribution of SSPCM absorption.

11
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Table 5
Performance of shape stabilization incorporation.

Leakage Absorption and Method Phase Change Latent Heat Thermal Supporting Material Refs.
Temperature Conductivity
Leakage at 30 °C 35% Tm: 21.6 °C Hm: 35.5 kJ/kg — Uncoated (ordinary) [34]
Melting impregnation DTm: 2.9 °C DHm: 73% expanded perlite (EPW)
at 60 °C Ts: 21.2 °C Hs: 32.8 kJ/kg
DTs: +1 °C DHs: 75%
(Peak)
Leakage at 60 °C Melting impregnation Tm: 38.4 °C Hm: 177.9 kJ/kg TC: 0.4476 W/(m∙K) Melamine sponge [67]
at 55 °C for 1 h DTm: 3.18 °C DHm: 4.6% DTC: 31%
(Mean)
No leakage 25.8% Tm: 58.48 °C Hm: 27.81 kJ/kg — Clastic light shale ceramsite [105]
Melting impregnation DTm: +0.35 °C DHm: 84%
at 80 °C for 3 h (Mean)
No leakage 75 wt% Tm: 50.45 °C Hm: 81.76 kJ/kg TC: 0.44 W/(m∙K) FDU-15 (mesoporous [54]
Melting impregnation DTm: 2.03 °C DHm: 47% DTC: +63% carbon)
at 70 °C for 3–4 h in Ts: 30.23 °C Hs: 80.39 kJ/kg
absolute ethanol DTs: +11.05 °C DHs: 47%
No leakage Melting impregnation Tm: 41.6 °C Hm: 112.21 kJ/kg DTC: Increase a lot OMMT and EG [36]
at 70 °C DTm: +0.15 °C DHm: 13%
No leakage 75% Tm: 63.3 °C Hm: 129.9 kJ/kg TC: 0.43 W/(m∙K) CLMS carbon layer- [53]
vacuum impregnation DTm: +1.3 °C DHm: 35% DTC: +65% modified
at 55 °C for 50 min Ts: 38.1 °C Hs: 120.1 kJ/kg mesoporous silica
DTs: +3 °C DHs: 32%
(Peak)
No leakage 50% Tm: 22.1 °C Hm: 60.9 kJ/kg — Hydrophobic coated [34]
vacuum impregnation DTm: 2.4 °C DHm: 54% expanded perlite (EPO)
at 60 °C for 30 min Ts: 20.2 °C Hs: 61.8 kJ/kg
DTs: 0 °C DHs: 53%
(Peak)
No leakage vacuum impregnation Tm: 37.1 °C Hm: 35.23 kJ/kg — organophilic [45]
at 74 °C for 1.5 h DTm: 0.1 °C DHm: 76% montmorillonite
No leakage 40.5% Change slightly Hp: 77 kJ/kg DTC: Decrease a lot kapok fibre and hollow PET [65]
vacuum impregnation DHp: 61%
at 60 °C
No leakage 96.7% DTm: 33.3% — DTC: Increase a lot Copper foam [31]
vacuum impregnation
No leakage 50 wt% Tm: 27.7 °C Hm: 87.09 kJ/kg TC: 0.32 W/(m∙K) Diatomite [52]
vacuum impregnation DTm: 5.62 °C DHm: 39% DTC: +10%
at 65 kPa for 90 min Ts: 29.67 °C Hs: 82.22 kJ/kg
DTs: +2.52 °C DHs: 51%
No leakage at 30 °C 80% Tm: 24.06 °C Hm: 96.44 kJ/kg — recycled expanded glass [104]
vacuum impregnation DTm: 0.2 °C DHm: 22% aggregate
at 100 kPa and 40 °C for Ts: 16.05 °C Hs: 92.69 kJ/kg
30 min DTs: +0.98 °C DHs: 22%
(Peak)
No leakage — Tm: 21.8 °C Hm: 75.45 kJ/kg — Diatomite [63]
DTm: +2.01 °C DHm: 51%
No leakage 63.1 wt% Tm: 22.5 °C Hm: 133.4 kJ/kg — Ceramsite [66]
vacuum impregnation DTm: +1.2 °C DHm: 35%
at 80 °C over 3 h Ts: 19.3 °C Hs: 131.5 kJ/kg
DTs: 0.2 °C DHs: 36%
No leakage 63.8 wt% Tm1: 39.6 °C Hm: 229.5 kJ/kg — Dye-linked PU [51]
Tm2: 50.3 °C DHm: 1.3%
No leakage 72.79% Tm: 47.9 °C Hm: 174.3 kJ/kg TC: 0.339 W/(m∙K) Carbon foam derived from [41]
vacuum impregnation DTm: 1.9 °C DHm: 16% DTC: +93% starch
at 80 °C Ts: 52.8 °C Hs: 151.4 kJ/kg
DTs: 0.1 °C DHs: 24%
No leakage Up to 85 wt% Tm: 21.8 °C Hm: 142.7 kJ/kg — PMMA [33]
Optimal value is 70 wt% DTm: +0.8 °C DHm: 33%
1 wt% leakage Up to 98 wt% Tm: 56.8 °C Hm: 190.9 kJ/kg — HGA-ATP [46]
hydrothermal reaction DTm: +3.7 °C DHm: 1.6%
Ts: 50.8 °C Hs: 189.4 kJ/kg
DTs: +1.5 °C DHs: 2.1%
(Peak)
No leakage Up to 92.1 wt% Tm: 58.1 °C Hm: 139.59 kJ/kg — SiO2 gel [37]
DTm: 0.42 °C DHm: 7.9%
Ts: 57.07 °C Hs: 59.66 kJ/kg
DTs: +0.89 °C DHs: 58.7%
(Peak)
No leakage 45 wt% of raw PCM with Tm: 43.7 °C Hm: 113.3 kJ/kg — Fumed silica [26]
supporting materials DTm: 3 °C DHm: 56%
Ts: 38.7 °C Hs: 112 kJ/kg
DTs: 1 °C DHs: 57%
(Peak)
Note The results in this table belong to SSPCM;
The ‘‘D” means the difference between core PCM and SSPCM;
The ‘‘+” means increase and ‘‘–” means decrease.

12
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Metallic and carbon-based materials with high TC played the 5.3. Multiple methods
important roles. Yang et al. [31] selected copper foam with high
porosity of 0.92 to contain the paraffin wax. The extremely high To get designed incorporation with better performance, the
impregnation ratio was achieved of 96.7% via the vacuum method combination of two or more methods is an alternative option.
for 90 min. Shi et al. [41] produced inexpensive carbon foams Chi et al. [48] filled tetradecanol (TD) into EG to form a connected
derived from starch as supporting materials. The maximum mass composite that was coated by GO. As shown in Fig. 10, the second
percentage of PCM reached to 72.79%. Apart from chemical stabil- incorporation, GO layer, expanded the changes caused by the first
ity and leakage prevention, the benefits of this incorporation incorporation, EG. The incorporation processes affected the phase
including higher TC that was 1.93 times than that of pure paraffin. change temperatures slightly and reduced the latent heat moder-
As for organic materials and containing organic materials, there ately. The effects of the second incorporation were less than that
were also many achievements. In the research [45] the mixture of the first one. Although EG boosted the TC more than 8 times,
was heated at 74 °C in a vacuum oven for 1.5 h that pushed the the GO effectively enlarged this improvement to a higher level.
LA into the pores of organic montmorillonite (OMMT). The great In addition, the TD/EG composite had good thermal stability and
compatibility between LA and OMMT was proved. Dong et al. the EG strengthened this advantage.
[65] connected kapok fibre with hollow PET (Polyethylene Tereph- Chen et al. [67] used PU macro-encapsulation as a container for
thalate) playing as a mixed supporting material with a large lumen. the STP-SAT that is absorbed by MS. In the next stage, the PU was
The proportion of kapok fibre and PET was 40% and 40% with the introduced to coat STP-SAT/MS. The incorporation process reduced
addition of 20% polypropylene/polyethylene sheath-core fibre. slightly the melting temperature. As shown in Fig. 11, there was
PCM and supporting material with a mass ratio of 50:1 were vac- fluctuation on latent heat but most capacities were reserved. The
uumed repeatedly at 60 °C lasting for one day. The PCM can fill MS made a lower TC and PU further obstructed heat conduction.
up to 40.5% of lumens. It was noticeable that the capacity of heat A noticeable phenomenon was gotten that the leakage prevention
insulation of the composite was great due to low TC caused by was enhanced dramatically according to the residual weight at
many air voids. 60 °C.
Encapsulation methods are coating the PCM with compact pro-
tect materials called ‘‘capsules” in MicroPCM and ‘‘boxes” in
5.2.2. Direct impregnation
MacroPCM. This method allows the proportion of PCM up to an
Qu et al. [26] designed many samples with the different mass
extremely high level. The MacroPCM as a macroscopic method
ratios of paraffin/fumed silica. The mass proportion of the raw
has little impacts on the conventional building structure, which
materials of 45:55 (paraffin: fumed silica) was proposed. At this
is often embedded as an interlayer or added as a surface layer.
percentage, the great capillary pressure of the nanopores and van
Some pioneered applications are shown in Chapter 7. There are
der Waals’ force between methyl groups made the composite
lower demands for mechanics but the flexibility of application
stable. Chen et al. [67] used melamine sponge (MS) with a mean
and development are also restricted. By comparison, PCM mixed
dimension of pores of 25 lm to absorb prepared melted SAT-STP.
in construction materials has shown broader development pro-
This composite had insufficient leakage prevent ability but it had
spects although there are more challenges. The sizes of MicroPCM
limited effects on the thermal properties of PCM due to the small
and SSPCM vary from a few micrometres to hundreds of microme-
proportion of MS. The clastic light shale ceramsite was selected
tres [19,42,43] enable them to become components of concrete.
by Shen et al. [105] as supporting material that had high TC of
MicroPCM provides a simple solution to leakage but it seems kind
0.93 W/(m∙K) and good porosity of 58% to absorb molten paraffin.
of brittle when it was mixed into concrete. That is the reason why
The 25.8% absorption brought the steady melting temperature and
it is better to add MicroPCMs at the end of the mixing procedure
much loss of latent heat. Also, the carbon-based materials were
[35]. The cost of MicroPCM is generally higher than SSPCM
still considerable in direction impregnation [36,50].
prompted by fabrication materials and processes [106]. As for
SSPCM the leakage prevention and absorption rate are basic crite-
5.2.3. Others ria for incorporation quality. The influences of incorporation on
Other than impregnation, some self-acting combinations were PCM performance rely on various factors including the kind of
used. The PCM was added in the process of production of support-
ing materials. The SSPCM was obtained when the production of
supporting materials was finished. Zhang et al. [46] designed a Teperature (oC) kJ/kg W/(mK)
material fabricated by GO and attapulgite (ATP) to support SA. 40 300 5
The production process was based on the hydrothermal method TD TD/EG TD/EG/GO
and a SSPCM aerogel composite (SA/HGA-ATP, HGA means the 35
250
GO aerogel prepared by hydrothermal method) was finally 4
obtained. The composites showed excellent performance on SA 30
proportion, up to 98 wt%. There was some leakage that did happen. 200
25 3
In addition, the composite had a similar phase change temperature
(3–7% difference) and latent heat (1.6–2% difference) when the ATP 20 150
occupied 67 wt% of supporting material. Researchers had designed
many products. Li et al. [37] produced a SiO2 sol filled with paraf- 15 2
fin. Tang et al. [51] mixed hexadecanol in the process of dye-linked
100
PU production to get a SSPCM where the hexadecanol played as 10
1
core PCM and PU presented both functions of supporting materials 50
5
and PCM. Meng et al. [33] incorporated paraffin in polymethyl
methacrylate (PMMA) by bulk polymerization method in different 0 0 0
mass ratio from 50% to 85%. The 70 wt% was proposed as the opti-
Tm Ts Lm Ls TC
mal proportion with a high enthalpy and good decomposition abil-
ity. The features and some impacts of shape stabilization were
showed at Fig. 9 and Table 5. Fig. 10. Thermal data in different stages of TD/EG/GO.

13
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

STP-SAT STP-SAT/MS
introduced Fe3O4 and Cu particles to produce the n-eicosane-
STP-SAT/MS STP-SAT/MS/PU Fe3O4@SiO2@Cu composite with higher performance. The Fe3O4
STP-SAT/MS/PU Time (hr)
was mixed with n-eicosane to enable the composite to have mag-
0 2 4 6 8 10
netic function with little influence on thermal performance. The Cu
220 0.7 102
was distributed on the surface of SiO2 shell to enhance the TC.
200 Hosseinzadeh et al. [110] tested the impacts of hybrid nanopar-
100 99.96 99.93 99.91 99.88 99.87 0.6 99
180 ticle (MoS2-Fe3O4) with various factors including volume concen-
tration, radiation, and shape. Results proved the most noticeable
160

Residual weight (%)

96.93
0.5 96 influence of radiation that reduced the solidification time by 70 s
140 94.67 and the most contribution of 74.58% of radiation. However, hybrid
93.68 0.4 93 nanoparticles were not always better. Nitsas et al. [111] added Cu
120
and Al2O3 nanoparticles simultaneously. Around 11.5% of heat
100
0.3 90 storage capacity was lost for both of single or hybrid conditions.
80 89.27 Because of the higher TC of Cu, the addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles
60 87.61 0.2 87 showed little advantages in this experiment.
The carbon-based materials were more prevalent when the bril-
40 liant TC has been proved. Karaman et al. [52] added EG in the PEG/-
0.1 84
20 diatomite composite for further higher TC. The testing results
demonstrated good compatibility and strong improvement on TC
0 0.0 81
that increases linearly. The improvement of EG was also significant
kJ/kg Lp TC W/(mK) in [25,27,55]. For instance, TC was improved by 114.4% because of
Fig. 11. Thermal data in different stages of STP-SAT/MS/PU.
7 wt% of EG [112]. In addition, the 0.02 wt% of carbon particles pro-
vided better energy storage rate [25]. The different morphology
material, size, ratio of raw materials, additives, etc. Anyway, the contributed various impacts.
universal reduction of latent heat is a vital problem caused by The range of additives should be expanded and not limited to
the proportion and phase-change rate of PCM. Although the multi- metallic and carbon materials. To further enhance the thermal sta-
ple incorporation method may resolve some problems, the more bility after numerous cycles, Kawaguchi et al. [16] introduced glass
complex processes inducing more time and money consumption. frit as a sintering agent on a Zn-Al PCM in the microencapsulation
There is no dominant incorporation method yet but a reasonable process presented in Section 2.3. In the second step before heating,
solution to eliminate the negative effects is a hot topic and some the same weight of glass frit was added and the mixed material
improvement methods are presented in Section 6.1. was milled. After one hundred cycles with a temperature range
of 300 to 600 °C, the composite showed brilliant thermal durability
when around 80% of the material was intact. However, a reduction
6. PCM enhancements in heat storage was observed.

In the vast majority of cases, PCMs cannot be used directly in

engineering before incorporation. The PCM composite after incor- 6.1.2. Conductive fins
poration thus becomes the crucial object of research affecting the What have mentioned are micro technologies for MicroPCM
application performance of PCMs. Many researchers have tried to and SSPCM. The macro technology is also feasible especially for
enhance the ability of PCM composite and revealed the impacts MacroPCM and it can improve the performance of most PCM.
of PCM composites on matrix materials. Although Hamad et al. [113] took the aspect ratio as the factor to
analyse the PCM performance in a rectangular enclosure, more
6.1. Thermal properties and phase change efficiency enhancement concerns were concentrated on inner technologies including fins
metal structure. Fins were the most-used components to improve
6.1.1. Nano-particles the phase change process. The added fins enhanced the effective
Nano-particles of metal or metallic oxide were popular addi- TC of PCM [114] and more fins could make the temperature distri-
tives to optimize the process of phase change that was inefficient bution more uniform [115] as well as faster phase changing [116].
due to low TC of PCMs. Sheikholeslami and Mahian [107] numeri- Although the transfer area was also increased, more fins posed
cally investigated the influence of inorganic nanoparticles and threat to natural convection and heat transfer coefficient at the
magnetic field on PCM solidification. The reliability of the Galerkin same time [117]. Adding fins sometimes was more efficient and
FEM code was verified. The CuO nanoparticles with a conductivity economical than nanoparticles [108,109,118]. The material with
of 18 W/(m∙K) and heat capacity of 540 J/(kg∙K) were added into high TC, like copper, usually performed better [83,110]. With the
pure PCM. TC improvement was the main reason for solidification same volume percentage, strips copper fins with a thickness of
time reduction [90] that was affected by some factors like the 4.5 mm saved 89.48% melting time when the longitudinal copper
diameter of nanoparticles [93]. Two parameters were considered fins and Al2O3 particles counterparts were 76.69% and 19.59%
that solidification time will decrease with decreasing Raylergh [118]. Even though strips fins had the half (2%) volume, they still
number or increasing Hartmann number. Based on results gotten showed better thermal performance than longitudinal fins [118].
from experiments [66], the Al2O3 nanoparticle had a higher effi- The longer fin made more contribution to faster melting. With
ciency than Fe2O3 and TiO2 in the matter of TC enhancement, the help of 1% volume CuO, 30% length of the fin can be reduced
and the 0.5 wt% Al2O3 nanoparticles were proposed in [66] but but the same influence was maintained [82]. The position of fin
1% [49] and 3 wt% in [108]. Adding some nanoparticles could also generated effects energy storage that was 11–36% higher than
enhance the phase change rate but superabundant particles will no fin situation. In [119], the melting process could be accelerated
increase the viscosity leading to weaker natural convection [109]. by vertical-oriented elliptical cylinder, adding nanoparticles and
The melting time was reduced up to 26.8% but energy storage fins. The highest effectiveness was attributed to fins and the max-
decreased by up to 31% in [83]. In addition, these particles also imum time reduction reached 82% by 20 fins compared to 45%
enable the PCM composites to have more functions. Do et al. [30] reduction caused by 4% nanoparticles. Similar results were pre-
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X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

sented in the solidification process but only 16% time was saved by
4% nanoparticles.
The different configurations and shapes of fins generated vari-
ous impacts on PCM working. Researchers investigated many
shapes of fins [120]. Ji et al. [121] assembled two rectangle fins
in Fig. 12(a) with different length ratio (upper: lower) and constant
total length. The lower length ratio caused intensive natural con-
vection and longer solid–liquid interface leading to fast melting.
Ren et al. [109] divided the copper rectangle fin into 2 triangle fins
in Fig. 12(b) having the same length and total volume. The melting
process was accelerated which could be the consequence of a lar-
ger heat transfer area. Yao and Huang [122] investigated the effect
of longitudinal triangular fins in Fig. 12(c) on solidification in a
triplex-tube system. These fins decreased the solidification time
of PCM by 30.98% compared to rectangular fin. The height and TC
of the fin prominently affected the required time. Zhang et al.
[123] analysed the effects on tree-shaped fins in Fig. 12(d) in LA
solidification via a verified model. The length ratio and width ratio
between braches and trunks changed the aluminium alloy fins per-
formance significantly. Results proved the improvement of tree-
shaped fins compared to traditional fins as well as positive and
negative effects of higher length ratio and width ratio.
More works were achieved to investigate the influence of con-
figuration of fins [124,125] and an optimizing algorithm was effec-
tive. Alberto et al. [126] designed a computational optimization
method for effective fins. The impacts of fluid convection were Fig. 13. Periodic metal structures.
given and optimal configurations for melting and solidification
were different. Xie et al. [127] used an efficient program code for
3D topology optimization [128] to design the shape of fins. The impacts of exact parameters. The porosity density was defined as
optimized fins improved the conduction heat transfer with close pores per inch (PPI) that affected the heat transfer significantly
metal volume leading faster melting process. and when the PPI exceeded the critical value the further positive
effects can be neglected.
The improvement method was not restricted to particles addi-
6.1.3. Conductive structure and pre-treatment
tion. Konuklu et al. [29] took microwave and calcination as pre-
Porous structures with high conductivity had a similar function
treatments to enhance latent heat energy storage capacity. Accord-
to fins. Zhang et al. [129] investigated the influences of copper fins
ing to the results, the microwave method showed better influence
and copper foam on a PCM enclosure encasing the part of heat
on latent heat for both diatomite and sepiolite based SSPCM com-
pipe. The combined methods enhanced most heat transfer
posites. As shown in Table 6, the positive effects of the methods
although weakened the natural convection [49]. According to the
can be prominent. It is concluded that many auxiliary methods
evaluation indexes like heat flux and heat storage, Meng et al.
have excellent abilities to enhance the properties of PCM
[130] analysed the effects of porosity of copper foam on PCM.
composites.
The lower porosity improved the heat transfer but decrease the
energy storage. Li et al. [131] improved the melting rate further
by optimizing the partial porosity of copper foam. The results gave 6.2. Impacts of PCM composites on cement-based materials
an important conclusion that enlarges the top and middle pore
density can augment natural convection and strength the vortex The types and proportions of raw materials are decisive factors
in bottom leading a higher melting rate. Li et al. [62] combined for concrete ability which are changed due to PCM introduction
PCM and SiC-honeycomb with the density of 0.741 g/cm3. With [132]. Generally, pure PCMs cannot be directly used due to their
the 30 wt% of SiC-honeycomb, the TC increased by 454%, which severe threat to chemical stability and mechanical properties of
generated major impacts on heat transfer. Zhao et al. [81] set peri- building materials but PCM composites are available. Besides ther-
odic structures (see Fig. 13) made of 4 types of metal to reveal the mal influence, physical and mechanical properties’ impacts of PCM
composites on construction materials deserve much attention to
guarantee the performance. For instance, Dehmous et al. [103]
tested concrete with various PCM composites and fabrication
methods. Many factors could make the changes in mechanical per-
formance and the fabrication method was proposed as the critical
one.
Qu et al. [26] introduced the paraffin/fumed silica SSPCM in
foam concrete. When the percentage of PCM composites increased
the TC fell gradually. At the same time that heat storage capacity
was improved, the ability to insulate heat was also enhanced.
The improved thermal properties (higher energy storage, lower
pick temperature etc.) and weaker mechanical properties (lower
bearing stress) were commonly showed [66,105]. Yousefi et al.
Fig. 12. Specimens of PCM fins. [104] replaced sand of mortar with EGA-PCM based on volume

15
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Table 6
Enhancement for phase change efficiency of phase change materials.

Methods Consequence Refs.

Volume fraction of 4% CuO nanoparticles Solidification time was reduced by 14% [107]
Employ external magnetic field with Hartmann number from 0 to 10 Solidification time was reduced by up to 23.5% [107]
0.5 wt% Al2O3 nanoparticles mixed with PCM TC raised from 0.198 to 0.2843 W/(m∙K) by 43.3% [66]
0.1% Al2O3 nanoparticles mixed in PCM Melting time decreased by 184 s [49]
1%, 5% and 10% Al2O3 Melting time decreased by 11.5%, 19.2% and 26.8% [83]
Energy storage decreased by 11%, 19% and 31%
2% and 4% of Cu nanoparticles Solidification time decreased by 9% and 16% [119]
Melting time decreased by 25% and 46%
Cu nanoparticle covering the shell TC ascended excellently up to 83% [30]
Cu nanoparticle energy storage rate increased under 324 K [109]
Blade MoS2 – Fe3O4 with radiation of 0.5 and 1 (fixed volume fraction of 0.025) Solidification time decreased by 40 s (21%) and 70 s (36%) [110]
Addition of EG TC raised linearly from 0.32 to 0.67 W/(m∙K) [52]
EG up to 7 wt% TC raised from 0.145 to 0.311 W/(m∙K) [112]
EG up to 15 wt% TC raised linearly up to 4.6% [27]
0.06 wt% NG nanoparticles TC raised from 0.3 to 0.38 W/(m∙K) [25]
0.1 wt% NC nanoparticles TC raised from 0.3 to 0.34 W/(m∙K) [25]
4 wt% EG TC raised to 0.944 W/(m∙K) by 307% [55]
50 wt% glass frit as sintering agent Brilliant thermal durability [16]
41% (117 to 48 kJ/kg) latent heat reserved
Microwave for no more than 1 min Hp of diatomite-based SSPCM raised from 51.71 to 65.24 kJ/kg [29]
Microwave for 3–6 min Hp of sepiolite-based SSPCM raised from 40.54 to 59.54 kJ/kg [29]
196 transversal squared fins Effective TC increased by 4.11–25.8% [114]
4, 10, 15 and 20 fins Melting time decreased by 39%, 73%, 78% and 82% [119]
Solidification time decreased by 28%, 62%, 75% and 85%
Double fins with different length ratio Convection was enhance with ratio lower than 1 [121]
Melting time decreased by 40.5% with ratio of 0.11
triangle fins compared to rectangle fin melting rate increased [109]
Single or double branched fins Melting time decreased by 35.4% and 45.9% [83]
Energy storage increased by 17% and 20%
Tree-shaped fins with length ratio of 1 and width ratio of 2 Complete solidification time decreased by 66.2% [123]
Complete melting time reduced by 4.4%
Optimized fins by program code with metal volume fraction of 20% and 30% Melting time for 0.7 PCM reduced by 3.1% [127]
Melting time for 0.7 PCM reduced by 6.4%
Copper fins Complete cycle decreased by 82.70% [129]
Copper foam Complete cycle decreased by 89.03% [129]
Combining copper fins foam Complete cycle decreased by 93.34% [129]

with a constant cement. The smooth surface and porous structure replaced by PCM). Nessrine et al. [19] investigated the various per-
of EGA caused the higher flow, lower density and weaker strength. formance of concrete incorporated by Micronal DS 5038X. The
The weak bond of EGA-PCM and fly ash also attributed to the compressive strength became weaker but the damaged PCM
reduction of compressive and flexural strength. In thermal perfor- brought less reduction because the broken structure asked fewer
mance tests, the EGA with low conductivity reduced the tempera- pores. The higher porosity and lower adhesive property were the
ture increasing rate by up to 0.6 °C/min and further by 2 °C/min important reasons leading to less strength. The higher porosity
due to PCM. The sand was replaced by EPO-PCM according to dif- didn’t change the permeability because these pores were not con-
ferent volume percentages [133]. There was an obvious and contin- nected. Joulin et al. [42] made a cement mortar plate with Micronal
uous reduction of apparent density and TC of concrete samples DS 5001X microcapsules. The PCM caused decreasing TC and
with increasing proportion of PCM composites that was believed increasing energy storage in both specific heat and latent heat.
positive for TES. The dramatically decreased compressive strength As shown in Table 7, the impacts of PCM composites on
(Sc) and the increasing shrinkage strains were given. The low stiff- construction materials were diverse. Many influences, like lower
ness of PCM composites may be the reason for this phenomenon density and compressive strength, directly change the perfor-
and leading to early age shrinkage cracks. Djamai et al. [134] mance of construction materials. Section 2 and 3 conclude the gen-
designed a textile-reinforced concrete slab with PCM. The thermal eral benefits and drawbacks of common PCMs and techniques
enhancement was great with energy saving of 37% and lower peak respectively, it is hard to remedy all drawbacks in a short time
temperature by 4 °C. Moreover, detailed information for cracks instead it is reasonable to select proper PCMs and incorporation
under three-point bending was presented. The load-bearing capac- methods based on the requirements of matrix elements. However,
ity was decreased significantly with addition of PCM and further the research data is insufficient to reveal the exact relationship.
deteriorated if the content rate of PCM was higher.
The commercial PCMs showed the potential of mass production
and valuable application. Snoeck et al. [44] tested various commer- 7. Application of PCMs in buildings
cial PCM composites including Micronal series and Mikrathermic
series in the cement mortar. The lower value of flow was showed The primarily expected benefits of PCM were comfortable tem-
in all samples. The PCM posed threat on flexural strength and com- perature and energy saving. In fact, its basic feature, thermal regu-
pressive strength and the samples of dispersed PCM reduced two lation, had a wider range of uses. PCM has shown its brilliant
times than others which presented the preference of dried PCM benefits in different areas and various applications such as
encapsulation. Moreover, the additive method (PCM was added radionuclide shielding [135], Li-ion battery [136], solar water hea-
at the end of the mixing process with various mass percentages) ter [137], photovoltaic/water system [138], smart photo-detector
led higher reduction than the replacement method (the sand was [139], rewritable optical data storage [140], multi-temperature
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Table 7
Effects of phase change materials on construction materials.

Construction materials Influences Refs.

Cement mortar Specific heat from 925 ± 46 to 1238 ± 62 J/(kg∙K) at liquid and 1255 ± 63 at solid [42]
Concrete specific heat capacity increased from 946 to 1145 J/(kg∙K) by 21% [103]
Concrete average specific heat capacity increased by 76.5% (6 wt% PCM) [105]
Cement mortar Longer time delay and lower pick temperature [66]
Cement mortar Temperature increasing rate from 3.6 °C/min to 1.6 °C/min (EP100) [104]
Cement mortar Latent heat of 19 kJ/kg [42]
Cement mortar Latent heat up to 21.3 kJ/kg [26]
Cement mortar With 80% PCM, thermal storage increase from 47.39 to 126.04 kJ/kg by 166% [133]
Concrete Energy storage increased from 23.65 to 29.43 kJ/kg by 24.4% [103]
Concrete thermal resistance increased by 6.35% (6 wt% PCM) [105]
Cement mortar TC decrease up to 65.8% [133]
Cement mortar TC decrease from 0.65 ± 0.02 to 0.37 ± 0.01 W/(m∙K) [42]
Concrete TC decrease from 0.65 ± 0.02 to 0.37 ± 0.01 W/(m∙K) [103]
Cement mortar Apparent density decrease from 2039 to 1244 kg/m3 by 39% [133]
Cement mortar Apparent density decrease from 2.20 g/cm3 to 1.45 g/cm3 (34%) with 20 wt% PCM composite [66]
Cement mortar Density decrease from 2001 kg/m3 to 1248 kg/m3 [42]
Cement mortar Density increased from 2367 kg/m3 to 111.2 kg/m3 by 53% (EP100) [104]
Cement mortar Density increase from 545 to 565 kg/m3 (PCM by 30 wt%) [26]
Cement mortar Shrinkage strains increase up to 0.125% [133]
Cement mortar Up to 8% reduction on flow with dried PCM [44]
Cement mortar Up to 8% reduction on flow with dispersed PCM [44]
Cement mortar Flow diameter increased from 21.75 cm to 23.50 cm (EP100) [104]
Cement mortar Maximum bearing stress declined from 0.58 to 0.37 MPa with 20 wt% PCM composite [66]
Cement mortar Up to 50% on 28-day Sc from 60 to 35 MPa [44]
Cement mortar With 80% PCM, 28-day Sc decrease from 53.77 to 16.36 MPa by 70% [133]
Concrete 28-day Sc decrease from 36 MPa to 27 MPa when 5% damaged PCM composite [19]
Concrete Sc decreased non-linearly by minimum 36% [103]
Concrete Sc decrease from 18.56 MPa to 4.37 MPa by 76.5% (6 wt% PCM) [105]
Cement mortar 28-day Sc decrease from 76.7 MPa to 8.8 MPa by 89% (EP100) [104]
Concrete 28-day Sc decrease from 39 MPa to 19 MPa when 5% undamaged PCM composite [19]
Cement mortar 28-day flexural strength decrease from 2.6 MPa to 0.6 MPa by 77% (EP100) [104]
Concrete Flexible strength decreased non-linearly by minimum 14% [103]
Cement mortar Flexural strength decrease gradually [44]

zone incubator [141], thermal protection system [142] and evacu- when the room needs cooling, the designed system can reduce
ated tube solar collector [143]. The wide application range of PCM the internal surface average temperature by 0.7 °C and heat flow
is benefited from unremitting potential exploration as shown at by 53% which brought 16.1% reduction in energy consumption. A
Fig. 14. As for civil engineering, the hottest topic is energy-saving PCM thermal shield was designed by Lee et al. [147] that was thin
in which room temperature regulation. Besides that, PCM has fea- sheets containing polymer pouches laminated with aluminium foil
sibility on novel applications. on both sides to allow the PCM to fully melt and solidify over daily
cycles. The peak heat flux was reduced by 30–50% and the maxi-
7.1. Applications for thermal storage in buildings mum delays were 2.3 to 6.3 h thanks to PCMs. Zhu et al. [87]
improved the energy-saving capacity of PCM Trombe wall by com-
Constructs have various structures and functions so multiple puting simulation. With the optimization of six important factors,
application modes are available for energy-saving [4]. In civil engi- the annual total building load reduced up by 13.52% compared
neering, the thermal control of buildings is foremost. As it is known with the reference. Wu et al. [148] took the moisture changes in
in building applications, the thermal behaviour of PCMs is affected consideration. The thermal inertia and hygric inertia were both
by the oscillation of the external environment temperature that increased due to the PCM layer.
cannot be controlled [7]. PCMs delay and decrease the temperature The improvement of PCM on walls is universal and not limited
peak in most fluctuation [1] that is the basis of application in in concrete walls. Abbas et al. [149] investigated the PCM on
structures as a thermal regulator. Although a few universal meth- hollow brick wall by experiments and simulation. The laboratory
ods were proposed [144], the successful use of PCM buildings application in Iraq climate presented the reduction of room tem-
applications depends on various factors that is why specific work- perature by about 4.7 °C and the temperature fluctuation by
ing conditions are necessary to promote research and popularize 23.84%, as well as increase of the time lag by 2 h. put PCM hollow
the application of PCMs [145] (see Fig. 15). This section presents bricks in Mediterranean cities and showed the best energy saving
some large-scale applications in buildings giving positive results. can be 56% [150]. Jia et al. [8] revealed the different impacts of
PCM and insulation materials. The wall was built by hollow sin-
7.1.1. Applications in building wall tered bricks while paraffin with Tp of 20–30 °C was PCM and
The wall is the most important part of the building for energy expanded polystyrene was the thermal insulation material. The
control and there are a lot of works to find the optimum applica- increased delay time of PCM was more 7 times than that of insula-
tion of PCMs in the wall. Rathore et al. [15] embedded aluminium tion materials and PCM reduced the maximum heat flow by 50%
tubes filled with PCMs into the walls and roof of the experimental while the average heat flow was decreased more significantly
cubicle. The moderate reduction of peak temperature of 7.19 to because of insulation materials.
9.18% and time lag of 60–120 min were observed. As a result, Different parameters of PCM, based material, and environments
around 0.4 US dollar can be saved on the electricity bill. Yan may affect the performance [9]. During the processes, some pro-
et al. [146] connected a nocturnal sky radiator to the pipe- posals for PCM were given. Jin et al. [151] revealed that the optimal
encapsulated PCM that was embedded in a wall. In hot weather, position of a PCM layer embedded in walls was affected by thermal

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X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

Fig. 14. Specimens of PCM application in various areas.

Fig. 15. Case studies of PCM application in buildings.

properties of PCM and environmental conditions. The PCM layer with hot and cold water in [38]. With PCM, there was a great time
was supposed to close to the interior surface if the interior surface delay and more required heat for the cold water for a unit degree
temperature was high. In another research done by the same group increase. It is most important that the PCM layer closer to the heat
[69], the reason was that this position enabled the PCM to absorb source showed a better performance. Kabdrakhmanova et al. [85]
and release latent heat during all the thermal cycles compared simulating a four-story mid-rise residential building in different
with other positions. In the research on a conventional walls cities under humid subtropical climate. The best group showed
embedded by a PCM layer, the optimal position of PCM installation annual energy saving of 12,635 kWh and 19.9% reduction of energy
is close to the exterior because it improved the melting proportion consumption while wind speed, solar azimuth, and atmospheric
of PCM [101]. Lower TC and the higher thickness of the PCM layer pressure pose pressure on energy consumption.
(higher amount of PCM) were beneficial to save heat. Outdoor and The enhanced performance of PCM was affected by various fac-
indoor temperature conditions were simulated by two bathes filled tors. Optimum location, melting temperature, and monthly opti-

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mum thickness of PCM layer were largely determined by the cli- more temperature reduction by 3.2 °C compared with traditional
mate [102]. For example, Lagou et al. [92] took the probability den- gypsum board.
sity function (PDF) of temperatures as the criterion to propose
optimal PCM. According to the PDF data of conventional walls in 7.1.4. Other applications
this paper, PCM layer should be embedded near the interior edge Although the cement-based material and gypsum are mainly
and ideal phase change temperatures were different of 16 °C, used and preferred, the thermal properties of various materials
11 °C and 20 °C for southern, central and northern European cities. have the potential to be enhanced by PCMs application. Qi et al.
The room temperature was the key to determine the optimal melt- [21] embedded polyvinyl chloride tubes filled with PEG in wood.
ing temperature and the insulation layer and changing environ- This phase-change hollow wood composite showed better thermal
ments also deserved attention in [152]. Cao et al. [24] proved the insulation than concrete and can be a lightweight building mate-
energy reduction can reach 32% in summer in Oslo. The outdoor rial. Liu et al. [74] injected PCM into the cavity between two pieces
and indoor temperature demanded the PCM layer performance sig- of glass. Although the energy-saving was improved, the incorpora-
nificantly while the insulation layer played a key role. tion of PCM decreased great transmittance where it was 50% for
liquid PCM and worse for solid PCM. King et al. [161] took a similar
7.1.2. Applications in roof, ceiling, and floor design that double-glazed window filled with PCM. The window
The possible values of PCM in cement-based materials repre- with PCM showed enough transmittance of 0.7 in daytime. Its con-
sented by walls were proved as presented above and other building tribution on thermal regulation was significant that temperature
parts also attracted attention. Qu et al. [22] analysed indoor tem- was reduced by around 9 °C and energy consumption fell by
perature and energy-saving affected by envelope type, PCM layer 3.76%. Zhou et al. [162] tested the PCM glass under intermittent
layout, PCM thickness, and PCM type. These four factors showed solar irradiation. The important result is the increasing stress that
different sensitivity on electricity saving and temperature mainte- can reach to 4.59 MPa caused by uniform temperature distribution.
nance where the envelop type was top of the list. With the same The ventilation system is a conventional method to regulate the
PCM layer and testing condition in [153], the PCM wall reduced indoor temperature that can be improved by PCM [11]. Morovat
the heat gain by around 13.78% but PCM roof reduced it by et al. [163] designed a controllable ventilating system as a PCM-
15.37%. Bhamare et al. [145] proposed a new index to estimate air heat exchanger (PCM-HX) where several panels of PCMs were
the selection of PCMs integrated with the roof depending on ceiling arranged. The airflow can pass the air channels between PCM pan-
temperature, time lag, decrement factor, and heat absorption. Al- els and controlled by a fan, an air-handling unit (AHU), and dam-
Yasiri and Szabó [40] fabricated a design of roof with PCM layer pers connecting PCM-HX and room space. The longer PCM-HX
(melting point was 44 °C). It showed a great effect on cooling and fewer air channels can improve the heating performance but
indoor temperature in the hot season, which made the maximum increase the required time at the same time. Different auxiliary
reduction of 9 °C. Boobalakrishnan et al. [154] connected capsu- heating also affected the peak and power reduction when the num-
lated PCM with metal roof under nature condition in India. Great bers of peak load reduction decreased from 82% to 41% and that of
indoor cooling was observed that decremented by 9.5 °C in peak power reduction decreased from 31% to 22% with the power of
hour and by 5 °C in daily average. Xiao et al. [155] evaluated SSPCM baseboard heater increase from 1 kW to 3 kW.
in different building enclosures in Boston and preferred the roof to Besides the research on PCM in specific components, some
be incorporated the thermo-optically SSPCM coatings. One of rea- attractive research supplied interesting viewpoints. From the per-
sons was the impact of solar orientation. Bogatu et al. [156] took spective of whole buildings, Park et al. [68] analysed the effective-
a field study for a PCM ceiling that was fabricated by macroencap- ness of glass curtain wall building (GCW) and conventional wall-
sulated paraffin with a peak melting point of 24 °C and pipes filled based buildings (CWB). The energy-saving effectivities of PCM in
with water flow. The 20 °C water flow with a high flow rate ceilings and floors are great in the melting period whereas walls
increased the heat discharge rate and improved the cooling system, were better in the cooling process. On the whole, they believed
which led to the relatively stable indoor temperature and lower that the same melting temperature of PCM in all three locations
peak temperature. Gonzalez and Prieto [157] designed 2D models was the most effective approach and the suitable temperatures
to reveal the performance of radiant heating floors embedded with are 22–24 °C for CWBs and 25–26 °C for GCWs. Srivastava et al.
PCM. The heat transfer decreased moderately by about 18% and [164] proved the advantages of wax PCM on curtains based on
TES rocketed by over 155% attributed to PCM, which led to more the experiments operated in Gwalior, India. To efficiently meet
stable indoor temperature and less energy consumption. Larwa the requirements in different ambient temperatures, de Gracia
et al. [158] proved the benefits of MacroPCM in hydronic radiant [165] numerically investigated a novel cooling system with a mov-
floor heating system on energy-saving and comfortable tempera- able layer with PCMs in building envelopes. This system allowed
ture while many factors like the position of PCM also had influence. the PCM layer to stay between the outdoor side and insulation
layer at the night then between to indoor side and the insulation
7.1.3. Applications in gypsum board layer in the day. The brilliant cooling efficiency was demonstrated
Gypsum is another important building material in construction up to 379% with an optimal melting temperature of 22 °C, while
contacted with indoor air directly that is good a matrix material of that of the static system can reach no more than 30%. Then they
PCM incorporation to reduce room cooling load [78]. The gypsum developed two algorithms to manage a novel phase change mate-
showed latent heat of 28 J/g with 25 wt% of MicroPCM with rial system that operated a novel dynamic phase change material
enthalpy of 120 J/g [78]. The thermal conductivity increased from based on weather forecast [166]. Various climates of Athens, Hel-
0.35 to 0.6 W/(m∙K) by 71.4% besides improved enthalpy to 15.24 J/ sinki, Madrid, and Strasbourg were introduced to test the perfor-
g [159]. Zhou et al. [160] investigated thermal performance of lam- mance of these algorithms. The algorithms generally improved
inated composite phase change material gypsum boards by simu- the thermal performance effectively of the wall but sometimes
lation and experiments. The research was done under dynamic not like in winter in Helsinki and Strasbourg. Li et al. [39] numer-
temperature controlled by a climate chamber. The board with ically investigated the benefits of sunspace and PCM louvre combi-
4 mm of PCM layer showed high heat exchange up to 15.6 W/m2 nation in the cold region. When the indoor temperature was set to
and great energy storage up tp 363.7 kJ/m2. This ability caused 18 °C, 20.40% and 22.73% energy consumption was reduced. The

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PCM louvre led more 5.27% and 13.88% energy saving in the heat- bridges, and dams, because of their different thermal, mechanical,
ing period to 18 °C and 20 °C. Maytorena et al. [80] took PCM to and structural characteristics as well as conditions.
improve the capability of earth-to-air heat exchanger systems
(EAHE) that were common in buildings to cool or precool the air 7.3. Challenges in practical application
in summer and pre-heat in winter. The air temperature achieved
reduction of 2.65 °C with the RT35 as PCM. This benefit can be The real-scale tests have shown reasonability but some prob-
improved further by optimal selection of PCM. lems hinder the widespread application. Apart from the problems
of PCMs and PCM composites like high cost [73,152] and negative
strengths [44,66,132], the lack of a clear indicator to effectively
7.2. Applications in severe environments assess the PCM integration was a critical issue [2]. In another work,
the optimal ways to install PCM in various construction and the
Apart from what are shown in Section 7.1, PCMs have much environment far from sufficient as well as more systematic evalu-
beneficial capability. Above all, cracks have been a major problem ation of the various PCM integrated into the building structure is
for civil constructs seriously affecting the structural safety of the needed correspondingly. For example, Miliozzi et al. [61] demon-
concrete. The hydration heat of cement is generated and dissipated strated the improvement of mechanical properties, like compres-
during the curing period leading to volume change that is the pri- sive strength and flexural strength. Ilyas et al. [170] illustrated
mary reason for cracks. Šavija and Schlangen [167] gave some the- the coarse aggregates may maintain the high strength and improve
oretical thoughts. Then Šavija [18] reviewed the PCMs applied to energy storage ability of concrete in the meantime. However, the
reduce the cracks in various conditions including fresh concrete results cannot be accepted before more reliable results were given.
in early age and under freeze–thaw cycles. PCMs showed positive
influence in ease temperature fluctuation and smooth temperature 8. Future research directions
gradient leading to fewer cracks.
Apart from concrete, this concept was used in pavement mate- 8.1. Novel PCM with enhanced properties
rials. When it comes to freeze–thaw cycles, the ice and snow on
pavement pose a threat to traffic safety but conventional melting PCM is the most significant part of determining the relevant
methods may damage the pavement. PCM incorporation becomes researches but there is no perfect PCM by far. A novel PCM may
an alternative method. Esmaeeli et al. [91] developed a one- be capable of solving most problems in current programs. Although
dimensional model and relevant large-scale and small-scale exper- comprehensive research of pure PCM is indispensable that is a con-
iments that suffered temperature variation of 10–10 °C and 40– ventional and well-directed method, the exploitation of novel
24 °C respectively. The freezing time and depth in near 143 of 210 eutectic PCMs has a huge potential ability to overcome the inher-
cities reduced at least 10% demonstrating the huge application ent defects of pure PCMs. It is a high-demanding and tough process
region of PCM. If the transition temperature was over and close that needs support from multiple disciplines like chemistry and
to 0 °C the enhancement was bigger. Farnam et al. [168] designed material. As long as the development of PCMs gains constructive
and analysed two PCM, paraffin oil, incorporation methods into the progress, a substantial contribution will be made to other research-
pavement. One was placing PCM in LWA, expanded shale, and then ing processes.
mixed into concrete. Another was placing PCM in metal pipes then
embedded in concrete during the casting process. Both incorpora- 8.2. Reliable and economical PCM composites
tion methods allowed the PCM to accelerate snow melting but had
different performances with different ambient temperatures. Besides core PCMs, there are some crucial criteria for PCM com-
Before the snow event, if the ambient temperature was relatively posites including corrosion protection, TC, structural integrity, etc.
high or over the solidification point of PCM, the pipe method made Although some methods were proved reliable, the operating pro-
faster snow melting than LWA method. However, if the ambient cess is complex and requires highly leading time-consuming and
temperature was near or below the solidification point, the perfor- costly. These problems must be solved before mass production
mance of the former decrease considerably when the latter still and applications. Reducing cost is a positive result and purpose
help to melt snow gradually. based on the great development of novel PCMs and incorporation
Many special concretes were innovated in the last decades techniques, which seems like an assignment with less importance
showing great ability and a bright prospect. The connection of dif- and lower priority compared to PCM and incorporation. Even so, it
ferent functions is an available way for multifunctional concrete. is also reasonable to work right now.
Some researchers have conducted research showing the practica- For example, Boussaba et al. [73] made coconut fat recovered
bility. Uthaichotirat et al. [32] made recycled aggregate concrete from underused feedstock as low-cost and eco-friendly PCM. To
impregnated with a PCM where the PCM showed good perfor- maintain these features, supporting materials were cellulose fibres
mance to improve thermal properties. The PCM and recycled prepared from recycled cardboards and natural clay was selected
aggregates had good compatibility. Ren et al. [72] attempted to as a binder. Additionally, a direct immersion method with no vac-
introduce PCMs in ultra-high performance concrete. These results uum treatment, a simple incorporation process, was adopted. This
proved that PCMs have the potential to enhance further capability composite had a fine performance with phase change temperature
of ultra-high performance concrete. Moreover, the composite of about 20 °C, latent heat of about 107 kJ/kg and absorption of 56
showed satisfying chemical stability. Ren et al. [47] also proved w%. Although some deficiencies were observed like uniform distri-
the reliability of lightweight aggregates (LWA) incorporated with bution, it is still acceptable and is a meaningful attempt.
PCM and carbon nanofibers at the same time that has electric ther-
mal storage performance. Hunger et al. [169] represented encapsu- 8.3. Targeted optimization
lated PCMs were able to maintain the self-compacting ability and
enhanced thermal properties in self-compacting concrete. The performance of PCMs is affected by various impacts like
These studies proved potential applications taking the advan- ambient climate, heating/cooling rate, orientation and inner struc-
tage of heat regulation and tried to connect different functions. ture of constructs, etc. [22–24]. Take ambient climate as an exam-
These researches were at initial stages that need further work in ple, Mi et al. [84] numerically investigated energy-saving and
deep and different engineering should be included, such as tunnels, economical efficiency led by the same PCMs via EnergyPlus. The
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models took different Chinese cities (e.g. Shenyang, Zhengzhou, 8.6. Long-term efficiency
Changsha, Hong Kong and Kunming) with climates classified into
severe cold, cold, hot summer and cold winter, hot summer and The civil engineering is designed for decades even hundred
warm winter, and mild, respectively. Except for climates, other years that brings forward high demand for long-term reliability.
parameters were the same. The highest energy-saving occurred The chemical stability of PCM is lower than conventional construc-
in Shenyang, China. The amount is 10 times that in Hong Kong. tion materials and PCM addition breaks the original. For another, a
Considering electricity price, money-saving was great in Shenyang, lot of construction waste has been a severe problem that is solved
but PCM application in Hong Kong may take no economic benefits. by recycle. The PCM composites especially the leaked PCM in recy-
These demonstrated that research on PCM should consider differ- cle aggregates dramatically change the original constituent and
ent application conditions. Similar works proposed the various structure. The current recycled concrete theory need be modified.
optimum melting temperature and mass of PCM depending on cli-
matic condition [28,102]. In addition, PCM performance may have 9. Conclusions
a huge gap in different months. According to data in the reference
[171], changing latent heat and phase change temperature of PCM PCMs have been proved as advantageous in many aspects for
can improve its performance only in some months like June and building construction. The core PCMs and design method are the
September. Maybe in other months, the effect is adverse. The dis- foundation of PCMs where this review analyses their features
advantageous impacts of PCM was not rarely seen if the optimiza- and gives some suggestion for their development in construction.
tion was not targeted well [172]. The testing techniques and improvement methods with positive
However, there are opposite requirements for TC in different effects are also reviewed. The effect on constructs, from materials
purpose and experiments. What are mentioned in the previous and heat, is the critical part. What concluded from the existing
paragraphs are hoping the higher conductivity but Li et al. [101] studies is beneficial but insufficient, thus this review proposed
proposed that the lower conductivity help reduce heat in an indoor many objectives deserving much attentions and many studies,
room. Section 7.2 presents some applications in different cases that which includes the weakness remedy for current results, such as
also need more detailed researches. better abilities of PCMs, and a wider range of application. The dis-
cussion can support the further development of PCM in sustainable
and energy efficient building construction.
8.4. Workability of PCM concrete There are many types of PCMs but only a part of them is suitable
for construction. The organic PCM shows a relatively appropriate
The capability ceiling of PCM in buildings depends on the total phase change point considering the ambient temperature and the
heat storage. In consideration of limited absorbed energy density, comfortable temperature for human. There are inherent flaws for
higher quantity of PCM can enhance the thermal regulation effec- both organic (flammable and high volume variation) and inorganic
tively. The concrete takes the majority volume of building materi- PCMs (supercooling and corrosive). To develop perfect PCM, inves-
als in most buildings leaving great space for PCM incorporation. tigation on a single PCM is far from sufficient.
Additionally, the thermal conductivity of concrete is higher than Shape stabilisation is the most prevailing incorporation method
gypsum and plaster (around 10 times) enables the heat be because it is friendly and cheap operation. The main limitation of
absorbed and released more efficient [173]. Hence the concrete is SSPCM is PCM absorbed percentage where the property of support-
the most important component in which PCM composites are ing materials is dominant. At the present stage, SSPCM is preferred
introduced. With PCM addition, the workability and physical char- especially in PCM concrete.
acteristics of concrete are changed significantly which pose a fatal The improvement of PCM on energy and temperature is proved
impact on the practical application [132]. Nevertheless, there are but some universal problems caused by PCM also are observed. The
limited papers that revealed the influence of PCMs on concrete most threatening one of them is damage to the bearing capacity of
workability. Take the ability of flow as an example, Shi et al. [43] construction materials. The physical properties of PCM composites
tested the fluidity of mortar of different composition design when should get attention as equivalent to thermal properties. Further-
the highest value was observed at 15% of PCM. Snoeck et al. [44] more, the introduced PCMs sometimes change the constituent of
found the flow is decreased due to added PCMs in two incorpora- construction materials, which means the research should be con-
tion methods, which was acceptable if the amount of PCMs is ducted from the basic design theory.
lower than 5 mass%. Ramakrishnan et al. [133] tested the flowabil- The performance of PCM heavily relies on the ambient condi-
ity of ordinary cement except that incorporated with PCM let alone tion of construction. Some useful conclusions are given but no
the comparison and analyses. A lot more data is needed to make comprehensive and convincing relation is revealed yet. Optimal
remarkable achievements. Besides flowability, many parameters ways to install PCM in various construction and the environment
deserve attention like water-retaining, plasticity and cohesiveness. are far from sufficient as well as more systematic evaluation of
These are affected by not only the basic factors of PCM composites the various PCM integrated into the building structure is needed
but also the method and parameter of addition. correspondingly.

Declaration of Competing Interest

8.5. Multifunctional concrete
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
As shown in Section 7.2, PCMs had the potential to cooperate cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
with functional concrete. The addition of PCM probably changes to influence the work reported in this paper.
the original performance. For example, graphene is popular sup-
porting material of SSPCM that will affect the electrical conductiv- Acknowledgements
ity of self-sensing concrete. The idea that a combination of
functional concrete is valuable but the way to ensure the effective The authors appreciate the supports from Australian Research
multifunction needs a great deal of research. Council(IH200100010; DP220101051), and University of Technol-

21
X. Wang, W. Li, Z. Luo et al. Energy & Buildings 260 (2022) 111923

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