Reactive thermoplastic resin as a matrix for laminates containing microencapsulated phase change materials

This work aims at developing thermoplastic laminates combining structural and heat management functions. The laminates are composed of continuous carbon fibers as the reinforcement, microencapsulated paraffin as the phase change material (PCM), and the newly developed thermoplastic liquid acrylic resin Elium®, processable as a thermosetting polymer. The characterization aims to study how the paraffin microcapsules influence the thermo-mechanical properties and thermal management performance of the resin and the carbon laminates. For the resin/PCM systems, the phase change enthalpy increases with the experimental PCM concentration up to 101 J/g. The melting enthalpy of the laminates also increases with the microcapsule amount, up to 66.8 J/g, which indicates that the mild conditions applied in the processing of the liquid resin allow the preservation of the integrity of the microcapsules. This is also confirmed by the improved thermal management performance observed through thermal camera imaging. However, the microcapsules are preferentially distributed in the interlaminar zone, which justifies the decrease in the interlaminar strength and the flexural properties. These results show potential for the future development of multifunctional thermoplastic composites with high thermal energy storage capabilities.