Characterization of Composite PCM (Paraffin/Expanded Graphite) for Solar PV Cooling Application

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-805-4_33How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Paraffin; Phase Change Material; Photovoltaic; Thermal Management

Abstract

This study develops a composite phase change material (PCM) for the use of solar photovoltaic thermal management. The composite PCMs utilized in this study were paraffin wax (FRW-52) as the base PCM and expanded graphite (EG) as the filler to the PCM. The composite PCM was synthesized by melting paraffin wax and incorporating expanded graphite via mechanical agitation and ultrasonic homogenization. The material was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal conductivity tests to assess phase transition behavior, thermal stability, morphology, and heat transfer properties. SEM pictures indicate that expanded graphite, utilized as a filler, showed excellent adsorption with paraffin, resulting in a uniform and homogeneous composite material. The thermal conductivity from the composite PCM was about ~48.02 W/m.K. These values show a significant increase compared to the values of base PCM (paraffin k = 0.2 – 0.3 W/m.K). The latent heat was about 152.39 J/g, and the specific heat was about 22.41 J/g·°C. Furthermore, SEM images show that EG mixed into paraffin wax blends well and becomes homogeneous; DSC results indicate that this mixture does not form new compounds, so the characteristic properties of paraffin as a PCM are preserved.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - I Kadek Ervan Hadi Wiryanta
AU  - Putu Darmawa
AU  - Ketut Bangse
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
TI  - Characterization of Composite PCM (Paraffin/Expanded Graphite) for Solar PV Cooling Application
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Green Tourism Applied Science - Engineering Applied Science 2026 (ICOSTAS-EAS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 314
EP  - 323
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-805-4_33
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-805-4_33
ID  - Wiryanta2026
ER  -