Overview
- Researchers carbonized chitin into a nitrogen-doped porous aerogel that physically and chemically confines a stearic acid phase change material.
- The composite accommodates up to 60% stearic acid by weight with no visible leakage during melting.
- Thermal measurements report a melting enthalpy of roughly 118 J/g and higher thermal conductivity than pure stearic acid.
- After 100 heating–cooling cycles, the material retains more than 97% of its original heat storage capacity with little shift in transition temperature.
- Nanoscale pore confinement and hydrogen bonding raise the activation energy for phase change, suggesting improved stability and a pathway adaptable to other PCMs using waste-sourced chitin.