Phase change material core thermoplastic shell filament

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022243998-A1
Application number	US-202217586941-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 28, 2022
Priority date	Jan 29, 2021
Publication date	Aug 4, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to encapsulation of a phase change material (PCM) enabled by extrusion of a thermoplastic polymer shell and a PCM core, which can be additively manufactured to form a variety of designs for use in a variety of settings, including for use as thermal energy storage devices in building heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The thermoplastic polymer shell surrounding a PCM core may be used as a filament in three-dimensional (3D) printing or may be extruded during the additive manufacturing process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A thermal energy storage device comprising:
a shell comprising a thermoplastic polymer; and a core comprising a phase change material; wherein: the shell comprises a length and an interior, and the core is positioned within the interior of the shell and extends through the length of the shell.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic polymer comprises polycaprolactone (PCL), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and/or polycarbonate (PC).

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic polymer has a thermal conductivity greater than about 1 W/m·K.

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material comprises a salt hydrate, a hydrogel, and a nucleating agent.

5 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the salt hydrate comprises sodium sulfate decahydrate, calcium chloride hexahydrate, disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate, and/or sodium acetate trihydrate.

6 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the hydrogel comprises poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid).

7 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the nucleating agent comprises borax.

8 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the phase change material comprises about 1-10 wt % hydrogel, 1-5 wt % nucleating agent, and 99-85 wt % salt hydrate.

9 . A method of additive manufacturing a phase change material, the method comprising:
extruding a shell comprising a thermoplastic polymer and having a length and an interior; and filling a core comprising the phase change material into the interior of the shell; wherein: the core extends the length of the shell.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the extruding and the filling are performed substantially simultaneously.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the extruding and the filling are performed using a nozzle.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the extruding and filling are performed at 75-100° C.

13 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
forming a design with the shell and the core on a bed.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the bed has a temperature of 40-90° C.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the thermoplastic polymer comprises polycaprolactone (PCL), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and/or polycarbonate (PC).

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the phase change material comprises a salt hydrate.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the salt hydrate comprises sodium sulfate decahydrate, calcium chloride hexahydrate, disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate, and/or sodium acetate trihydrate.

18 . A system for additive manufacturing a phase change material, the system comprising:
a nozzle; a thermoplastic polymer; and the phase change material; wherein: the nozzle is configured to extrude a shell comprising the thermoplastic polymer and having a length and an interior; the nozzle is configured to fill a core comprising the phase change material into the interior of the shell; and the core extends the length of the shell.

19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising:
a bed; wherein: the shell and the core are configured to form a design on the bed.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the bed has a temperature of 40-90° C.

Assignees

• Alliance Sustainable Energy
• Tcpoly Inc

Inventors

• Odukomaiya Adewale
• Singh Paramjot
• Mahvi Allison Jasmine
• Smith Matthew Kirby
• Dosani Kaif

Classifications

• D01D5/34

  Core-skin structure; Spinnerette packs therefor · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• B29C64/118

  using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM] · CPC title