Journal of Building Engineering 84 (2024) 108603

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Journal of Building Engineering

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

Development and characterization of advanced paraffin plaster

composite for building energy storage
Najoua Mekaddem a, *, Samia Ben-Ali a, Magali Fois b, Ahmed Hannachi a
a Research Laboratory of Process Engineering & Industrial Systems, National School of Engineers, University of Gabes, St Omar Ibn El Khattab, 6029,
Gabes, Tunisia
b Studies and Research Center in Thermal, Environment and Systems, University Paris-Est, 61 Av.General de Gaulle, 94010, Creteil, Cedex, France

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Thermal energy storage via phase change materials (PCM) is currently a promising solution for
Paraffin minimizing energy consumption and ensuring thermal comfort in buildings. PCM composites en-
Plaster hance energy efficiency by shifting peak energy loads while maintaining a comfortable indoor
Composite temperature. This work aims to develop a novel highly stable form of PCM-based composite and
Energy storage
assess its performance in plaster. The composite prepared consists of paraffin (RT27) loaded into
Building
expanded perlite (EP). The obtained composite was coated with waterproof SikaLatex adherent
(SL). Paraffin loading rate reached 70 % by vacuum impregnation. Composite thermal conductiv-
ity was enhanced by aluminum (AL). Compared to other PCM plaster boards, the paraffin coated
composite amount reached a greater value of 50 wt% in plaster without friability. Thermal con-
ductivity of plaster containing 50 wt% of RT27/EP/SL/Al composite was 0.56 ± 0.02 W/m.K.
Temperature and phase change enthalpy measurements were carried out by Differential Scanning
Calorimetry (DSC) analysis. The results revealed that prepared composites stored
107.46 ± 1.89 kJ/kg and 93.77 ± 1.65 kJ/kg respectively without and with Aluminum. These
composites were thermally stable even after undergoing multiple heating and cooling cycles.
Good chemical compatibility between composite components was shown by Fourier-Transform
Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The resulting plaster composite is a stable, leak-proof,
low-cost material with high thermal energy storage (TES) efficiency in buildings.

Nomenclature

PCM Phase change material

RT27 Paraffin
EP Expanded perlite
SL SikaLatex® waterproof adherent
Al Aluminum
DSC Differential Scanning Calorimetry
FTIR Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
TES Thermal energy storage

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mekaddem.najoua@gmail.com, najoua.mekaddem@enig.rnu.tn (N. Mekaddem).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2024.108603
Received 28 February 2023; Received in revised form 11 July 2023; Accepted 19 January 2024
Available online 20 January 2024
2352-7102/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N. Mekaddem et al. Journal of Building Engineering 84 (2024) 108603

PL plaster
SEM Scanning electron microscopy
Tm Melting temperature, K
Tf Freezing temperature, K
ΔHm Melting enthalpy, kJ/kg
Greek symbols
α Thermal diffusivity, mm2/s
λ Thermal conductivity, W/m.K

1. Introduction
Current trends in energy use and supply are encouraging the development of new renewable sources to meet energy needs and
protect environment. Building sector, including residential and service subsectors, plays an important role in the distribution of world
energy consumption. Its consumption is around 35 %, which represents almost 17 % of total CO2 emissions. A reduction of about
60 % of CO2 emissions is desired by 2050 [1].
To achieve this goal, new clean energy technologies should be developed in buildings such as incorporation of efficient systems
based on thermal energy storage materials. These materials are phase change materials (PCMs) that ensure energy storage through
melting and solidification.
PCMs are integrated into building structures such as envelopes (walls, ceilings, roofs …) to increase effective thermal storage ca-
pacity, thereby improving temperature regulation, enhance building thermal inertia, shifting energy demand peaks and electrical
consumption energy savings [2,3].
PCMs must have certain appropriate thermo-physical, kinetic, chemical, technical, and economic properties. The Melting temper-
ature, latent heat of fusion, thermal conductivity, and density of the solid and liquid are the prerequisite thermophysical properties to
be considered. The phase transition temperature should be within the thermal comfort temperature range (from 288,15 K to
303,15 K) [4]. The latent heat of fusion per unit volume should be as high as possible to absorb and release more thermal energy dur-
ing the charging and discharging processes.
Moreover, there are few PCM products for building on a commercial scale due to the expensive encapsulation methods. The tech-
nical methods for developing PCM composites are direct incorporation, immersion, microencapsulation, shape-stabilization and the
formation of stable PCMs composite [5–8]. Actually, many researchers are focusing on to the preparation, development and investiga-
tion of the efficiency of shape-stabilized or form stable PCM composites for building which are more environmental and eco-
nomic.This type of composite is made up of PCM dispersed in support materials network using direct or vacuum impregnation. It can
maintain its shape even when the PCM changes from a solid to a liquid phase [9]. The commonly porous media are expanded graphite
[10,11] diatomite [12], montmorillonite [13], expanded perlite (EP) [14,15] active aluminum oxide [16].
The shape stabilized composites could be incorporated into construction materials as cement gypsum for regulating internal ther-
mal environment. Based on the nature of the PCM and support, the most varieties could be found in literature, organic PCM/organic
support and organic PCM/inorganic support. The affinity between the PCM and the porous structure depends on their chemical com-
patibility, physical properties and surface or intermolecular interactions that could be occur. Some researches of the two types related
to energy storage in building materials were presented. For example, Min et al. [17] evaluated thermal and mechanical behaviors of
concrete mixed with shape stabilized PCM (octadecane/graphitic carbon). They found that specific heat increases as composite con-
tent increases but compressive strength and elastic modulus of concrete decrease. Integration of PCM composites in concrete is very
effective but it affects the mechanical strength and may lead during melting phase [18,19]. The integration into gypsum is less com-
plicated and more ecofriendly than cement. Gypsum is widely used for interior coating, thermal insulation, moisture control, fire pre-
vention. Although, there are few studies on development of plaster boards composed containing shape stabilized PCM. Zhang et al.
[20] successfully prepared Paraffin/Expanded graphite composite by vacuum impregnation method, with a latent heat storage capac-
ity of 105.3 J/g and phase change temperature of 295.43 K. The results show that the thermal conductivity increased by 36.0 % by
adding 1 wt% of carbon fiber into the expanded graphite/paraffin/gypsum composite material. Fei et al. [21] studied the thermal
performance of a phase change energy storage gypsum board containing 20 % of Capric Acid-Paraffin/Expanded graphite composite.
They found that the gypsum board has excellent thermal stability after 400 times of melting−freezing. The melting and freezing tem-
peratures were 299.55 and 296.25 K, and the latent heats of melting and freezing were 27.20 and 25.69 J/g, respectively.
For instance, Karaipekli and Sari [22] prepared three types of organic PCM composites by absorpting an eutectic mixture (capric–
palmitic acid), heptadecane and dodecanol into pumice by vacuum impregnation. The maximum insertion PCM percentages were
34 wt%, 32 wt% and 31 wt% for capric-palmitic acid, heptadecane and dodecanol respectively without leakage. Then, they investi-
gated the thermal behavior of three PCM composites held in plaster. The tests showed that all the plaster composites kept the indoor
temperature within a comfortable range (291–298 K) for longer time than the control room. Thermal regulated gypsum boards con-
taining capric acid and palmitic acid/expanded perlite composite were also fabricated by Zhang et al. [23]. The volume fraction was
varied from 10 % to 30 %. The heat transfer property test of gypsum boards revealed that for a volume fraction around 30 % of PCM
composite, the highest temperature was 314.9 K for thermal-regulated gypsum surface and 308.2 K for the center of the cubicle sys-
tem. The gypsum board's ability to store energy increases with composite PCM volume content, and the cubicle system's temperature
variation decreases. In addition, compared to pure gypsum board, the volume proportion of the composite PCM had both good and
negative effects on the gypsum board's ability to transfer heat [23]. Fort et al. [24] developed a new stable form of phase change com-

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posite based on diatomite impregnated by dodecanol and incorporated into cement-lime plaster serving as an admixture for design of
interior plasters. For plaster with 24 wt % of stable form, the phase change temperatures changed from 294.68 K during heating to
293.75 K during cooling. The phase change enthalpy values were approximately 15.38 J/g during cooling, and 15.20 J/g during
heating, respectively.
To improve the energy stored quantity, it will be interesting to ameliorate the amount of PCM which remains low in plaster panel
in most previous studies. In this paper, the experimental protocol introduces a novel and easily applicable process for the production
of a stable form paraffin composite that can be directly inserted into building material without causing damages.
The novel phase change plaster boards were prepared by inserting a sable form of paraffin and expanded perlite into plaster. The
plaster composite owns high energy storage capacity and low cost. The utilized paraffin has an appropriate melting temperature
range 298.15–301.15 K and a high energy storage capacity about 154 kJ/kg ± 2.30, which make it promising for use in buildings.
The paraffin was loaded into the porous structure of the expanded perlite using vacuum impregnation. The Paraffin loading rate was
70 %. The obtained composite was coated to avoid leakage then mixed with plaster. The thermal performance was characterized be-
fore and after mixing with plaster. As a motivated result, the paraffin mass fraction could reach 30 wt% and 21.5 wt% for plaster
panel without and with aluminum respectively. The resulting plaster composite were expected to be a potential candidate material for
thermal energy storage (TES) in buildings.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials
Paraffin ‘RT27’ was used as a thermal storage material. Its melting temperature range is about 298.15–301.15 K, which corre-
sponds to the ambient temperature of the thermal comfort zone. This organic phase change material was supplied by Rubitherm tech-
nologies GmbH [25]. The properties of RT27 were presented in Table 1.
The expanded perlite (EP) purchased from PERLA group of Tunisia [26] was used as the PCM's support material. Its technical char-
acteristics are shown in Table 2. Its chemical composition was determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF, JSX-3201Z)
and presented in Table 3. The coating material used in this work is SikaLatex® (SL), a waterproof product supplied by the Sika Group
[27]. It significantly improves the waterproofing and adhesion of the mortar, increases its strength and limits the risk of cracking. This
product is compatible with all cements, lime and plaster and retains its properties even in wet or submerged conditions.
Aluminum powder (Al) was supplied by Minerals-water Ltd. The building material employed is the plaster supplied by Knauf-
Meknassy-Tunisia [28].

2.2. Preparation of paraffin plaster composite

The preparation process of PCM plaster composite was conducted as presented in Fig. 1. The first step consists on a vacuum im-
pregnation of the expanded perlite (EP) with paraffin (RT27). The composite (RT27/EP) was coated using SikaLatex® (SL) adherent
to reduce paraffin leakage. In the next step, Aluminum was added to improve the composite conductivity. Finally, the obtained com-
posite was inserted in plaster and molded as a board for wall application in building. The detailed methodology of the vacuum im-

Table 1
RT27 properties (Rubitherm GmbH).

Property Value

Melting area 298.15–301.15 K

Specific heat capacity ±7.5 % [293.15 K 308.15 K] 2 kJ/kgK
Thermal conductivity 0.2 W/mK
3
Density liquid at 313.15 K 760 kg/m
3
Density solid at 288.15 K 880 kg/m

Table 2
Expanded perlite properties (PERLA group Tunisia).

Property Value

Color White
−3
Rough density (kg.m ) 65–95
pH 6.5–7.5
Total porosity (%V) 95.6
Retention capacity of air 74.5

Table 3
Chemical composition of expanded perlite [29].

Constituent SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO Na2O K2O MgO

Ratio % 74.3 12.6 2.7 1.0 3.4 6.0 0.1

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N. Mekaddem et al. Journal of Building Engineering 84 (2024) 108603

Fig. 1. Experimental set-up of PCM Plaster preparation.

pregnation, the paraffin-Expanded perlite coating, the conductivity improvement and the integration of PCM composite in plaster is
described hereafter.

2.2.1. Vacuum impregnation

The dried expanded perlite and the solid paraffin are placed in an erlenmeyer flask. Using a vacuum pump, the air was removed
from the perlite for 30 min to improve the retention capacity of the paraffin by the porous structure. Then, the temperature is ad-
justed to 313.15 K in a water bath to melt the paraffin. Once the paraffin is completely melted, the mixture was stirred until the paraf-
fin was uniformly dispersed in the perlite. In order to determine the maximum mass fraction of paraffin to be retained without leak-
age, a composite material with different mass fractions of RT27 ranging from 30 to 75 % was prepared.

2.2.2. RT27/Expanded perlite coating

It is essential to ensure that the amount of paraffin impregnated in the expanded perlite does not leak during the phase change or
undergo chemical reactions when the RT27/EP composite is mixed with other products. In this work, the expanded perlite has an hy-
drophilic character, so it is necessary to coat the RT27/EP composite before inserting it into a construction material such as plaster or
cement. Then, after determining the optimum impregnation rate, the obtained RT27/EP composite is coated with the SikaLatex and
dryied for 24 h in ambient air. A leakage test is performed for different percentages of SL added to the RT27/EP composite. This test
consists of leaving coated samples in the oven at 313.15 K for 48 h.

2.2.3. Conductivity improvement

During charging and dicharging of composite the heat transfer is limited essentially by the low themal conductivity of paraffin. To
improve the thermal conductivity of composites, an aluminum powder is added to the RT27/EP/SL composite with a mass fraction of
10 %.

2.2.4. Integration of PCM composites in plaster

The prepared composites RT27/EP/SL and RT27/EP/SL/Al are mixed with plaster and water. The mixture is placed in a mould of
dimensions 44 mm × 44 mm × 6 mm. These samples are dried in ambient air. Two series of plaster boards were prepared with dif-
ferent composite-plaster mass ratios ranging from 10 % to 50 %.

2.3. Characterization techniques

2.3.1. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
To characterize the functional groups of the pure components (RT27, expanded perlite, SikaLatex, plaster) and composites,
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis were recorded by FTIR spectrometer (Frontier, PerkinElmer spectrometer,
Germany) between 500 and 4000 cm−1 at room temperature in attenuated total reflection mode. The used FTIR spectrometer is pre-
sented in Fig. 2.

2.3.2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

A scanning electron microscope (JEOL 6301F) presented in Fig. 3 was used to characterize the morphology of the expanded perlite
and plaster, the samples were metallized, placed in a vacuum ionization chamber and exposed to a cathodic spray using gold or palla-
dium. The paraffin based composites are observed by optical microscopy only because during SEM observation paraffin outgasses and
causes the destruction of the device sample holder. The optical microscope used is LeicaMZ12 with a Plasma PO 0.63 camera.

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N. Mekaddem et al. Journal of Building Engineering 84 (2024) 108603

Fig. 2. FTIR spectrometer.

Fig. 3. Scanning electronic microscope.

2.3.3. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)

Thermal properties, essentially melting temperature and latent heat were measured using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (Dia-
mond DSC of PerkinElmer, Germany) calibrated in enthalpy mode at 10 K/min under nitrogen atmosphere. The studied sample had a
mass of a few milligrams. They were placed in aluminium pan with a lid and crimped with a press as shown in Fig. 4. Then, it was ex-
posed to a temperature cycling program that ran from 243.15 K to 333.15 K. The temperatures were accurate to within 0.1 K and

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Fig. 4. Experimental DSC measurement (reference and crucible preparation (a) and Differential Scanning Calorimeter (b)).

phase change enthalpy was usually obtained to the nearest 1 %. The thermal cycling test was also used to determine the thermal relia-
bility of the composite PCM.

2.3.4. Thermal conductivity measurement

The measurement of thermal conductivity and diffusivity was carried out using an experimental device (Fig. 5) developed at the
Centre for Research in Thermal Energy and Systems (CERTES, Paris, France). This method is based on a periodic thermal excitation of
a sample [30]. It allows the simultaneous measurement of the thermal conductivity and diffusivity of materials as a function of tem-
perature (from 253.15 K to 453.15 k) [31]. For each samlpe, the measurement was carried out at two temperatures 285.15 and
313.15 K. The sample size was 44 mm*44 mm*6 mm. The sinusoidal excitation is imposed by Peltier effect module positioned under
the sample. The period, number of periods, number of cycles were introduced before measurement:
- For 285.15 K: a period of 1024 s for 10 times and 6 cycles.
- For 313.15 K: a period of 768 s for 10 times and 1 cycle.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Particle size distribution of expanded perlite
The obtained particle size distribution of the expanded perlite is multimodal as schown in Fig. 6 which proves the heterogeneity of
the sample. The classes are (0.125–0.2 mm, 0.2–0.25 mm, 0.25–0.4 mm, 0.4–0.5 mm, 0.5–0.63 mm, 0.63–1 mm and> 1 mm). Equal
masses EP of each class were taken, these amounts were added to the liquid paraffin at 313.15 K and then mixed. The obtained results
allow the EP to be divided into three main categories.

Fig. 5. Thermal conductivity and diffusivity measurement system.

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Fig. 6. Particle size distribution of expanded perlite.

A first category consists of fine particles with a diameter of 0.125–0.4 mm, clogging during the insertion operation of the RT27
was observed. This can be explained by the fact that paraffin remains on the surface of the particles, which leads to agglomeration
during the cooling process. A second category which consists of medium particles (0.4–0.63 mm), no clogging is observed during the
paraffin loading even though it was stable during heating process. A third category which consists of large particles with diameter
greater than 0.63, during heating the paraffin leaks easily due to the large pores size. Thus, the most suitable particle size class for
paraffin impregnation is the second category with an average diameter between 0.4 and 0.63 mm as shown in Fig. 7.

3.2. Leakage tests

To ensure that there is no leakage of paraffin from the novel PCM composite, we will hold the composite at a temperature above
the melting point and measure the paraffin amounts that may leak out after each step of the composite construction.
To ensure that there is no leakage of paraffin from the novel PCM composite, we will hold the composite at a temperature above
the melting point and measure the paraffin amounts that may leak out after each step of the composite construction.
Two leakage tests were carried out directly after vacuum impregnation. These tests were used to invistigate the ability of the EP
pores to retain the PCM and to determine the loading rate. The first consited of holding samples prepared with different PCM loading
rates ranging from 30 % to 75 % at 313.15 K for 4 h. The second was to hold the same samples in an oven at 323.15 K for three days.
In each test, the weight loss of the loaded EP was determined as shown in Table 4. By increasing the amount of inserted paraffin, the

Fig. 7. Expanded perlite particles.

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Table 4
Leakage tests for vacuum impregnation.

RT27 (%) 30 40 50 60 65 70 75

Leakage after two tests (%) 0.0816 0.1949 0.165 0.22 0.2557 0.5463 0.8700

oily traces observed on the beaker walls become more significant. The traces of paraffin correspond to the amount that escapes from
the porous structure and remains on the surface. For the RT27 percentages below 70 %, these traces are negligible. The limit percent-
age of traces is fixed at 0.5 % [32]. In our case, beyond this threshold, the traces are significant and can be observable with the naked
eye.
Thus, the 70 % was chosen as the optimal rate for preparing the composite. Comparing this rate with literature for expanded per-
lite medium presented in Table 6, RT27 was successfully inserted into the porous structure of EP. However, serious paraffin leakage
could occur when the composites were directly applied in gypsum or cement mixtures [33]. Due to the hydrophilic character of ex-
panded perlite and to prevent paraffin leakage when mixed with plaster, the PCM composite was coated by SikaLatex. A third leakage
test was carried out after coating for different percentages of SikaLatex added to RT27/PE composite, the samples were kept in an
oven for two days at 313.15 K. The obtained results are summarized in Table 4. The percentage of leakage decreases with increasing
amount of SL. Considering as the leakage limit 0.5 % of paraffin, the percentages of SL to be added is 5.21 % for the composite as
shown in Table 5.To ensure that the amount of paraffin was representative throughout the plaster sample, a comparison between the
theoretical mass fractions and the calculated mass fractions from the DSC analysis was conducted. Fig. 8 shows that the paraffin mass
fraction could reach 30 % and 21.5 % for the sample without and with aluminum respectively. The maximum parafin loading rate for
both series was above 18 wt% which is the maximum adsorption ratio of C18–C24 in the gypsum based-composite found by Karaipekli,
Sarı, and Biçer [34] and Sari [35].

3.3. SEM analysis

The analysis of the elemental chemical composition of the expanded perlite is summarized in Table 3, the expanded perlite was
mainly composed of approximately 74.3 % silica.
To study the loading properties of the prepared PCM composite, the microstructure of the EP particles before and after impregna-
tion was observed by SEM.
The SEM images of the expanded perlite are presented in Fig. 9 (a,b,c), they show that its highly porous structure has a particular
form of honeycomb shape with with thin walled hexagonal cells. The wall thickness was around 1 μm. Fig. 9 (d,e) confirmed that the
paraffin was well embedded into the pores of the EP. Furthermore, it is clear that the paraffin was successfully absorbed by the ex-
panded perlite using vacuum impregnation for preparing a stable form of PCM composite. As indicated by Celik et al. [42], the spe-
cific area of expanded perlite is high and it is about 108 m2/g at ambient temperature.

3.4. Chemical compatibility of PCM composites

FTIR analysis were performed to identify possible chemical or physical interactions between different components of the compos-
ite during the preparation process. The transmission spectra of the components (RT27, expanded perlite, sikalatex and plaster) and
composites after each preparation step were presented in Fig. 10.
The characteristic transmission bands of RT27 are –CH2 rocking vibration at 721 cm−1, –CH2 and –CH3 deformation vibration at
1466 cm−1 and –CH2 and –CH3 alkyl stretching vibrations at 2852 cm−1, 2921 cm−1 and 2957 cm−1 [36,43,44]. The expanded perlite
spectrum presents a small peak at 788 cm−1 corresponding to the OH stretching vibration and a large one at 1021 cm−1 related to the
Si–O–Si asymmetric stretching vibration [45].
The sikaLatex spectrum presents several peaks, two peaks at 698 cm−1 and 758 cm−1 which could be attributed to out-of-plane
bending and deformation vibrations of the CH groups in the aromatic rings, a peak at 966 cm−1 which correspond to an out-of-plane

Table 5
Leakage tests after coating.

SL-solide (%) 5.21 10 22 25

Leakage (%) 0.257 0.2071 0.0714 0.0785

Table 6
Comparison of insertion rate in porous structure with the literature for vacuum impregnation.

PCM Support matrix Insertion rate Reference

Octadecane Expanded perlite 59.35 % [36]

Paraffine RT21 Expanded perlite 35 % [37]
Octadecanol Expanded perlite 60 % [38]
Capric acid-Myristyl alcohol Expanded perlite 50 % [39]
Paraffin Silica 70 % [40]
Salt hydrate Expanded vermiculite 60 % [41]
RT27 Expanded perlite 70 % Present study

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Fig. 8. Experimental and theoretical mass fraction of paraffin into plaster composite.

vibrations of the CH groups, two peaks of carbons stretching vibrations in aromatic rings at 1452 cm−1 and 1493 cm−1, a large peak
between 3115 and 3723 cm−1 probably showing OH vibration and an asymmetrical stretching vibrations of the CH2 groups at
2919 cm−1 [46].
Likewise, the RT27/expanded perlite and RT27/expanded perlite/sikaLatex composites revealed peaks at the same positions as
those observed for the pure components. The FTIR spectra of RT27, expanded perlite and RT27/expanded perlite indicated that the
RT27/expanded perlite can be successfully prepared without any chemical reaction. The paraffin insertion into the internal porous
structure of the expanded perlite is achieved solely by capillary and surface tension forces [47] even after adding the coating material.
There are no significant changes or shifts in the characteristic peaks of RT27/expanded perlite with the addition of sikaLatex.
The plaster spectrum shows bending modes vibrations of the sulfate ion at 596 cm−1 and 667 cm−1, asymmetric stretching at
1104 cm−1and water bending vibrations at 1622 cm−1 and 1685 cm−1 [48]. The spectrum also presents two OH stretch peaks at
3404 cm−1 and 3528 cm−1 [49]. The bands related to the plaster composite show the same bands presented in spectra of RT27/ex-
panded perlite/sikaLatex and plaster without appearance of a new peak. Consequently, the prepared plaster composites have good
chemical compatibility.

3.5. Thermal properties of PCM composites

3.5.1. Phase change temperatures and enthalpies of PCM composites (RT27/EP, RT27/EP/SL, RT27/EP/SL/Al)
The phase change temperatures and latent heats of pure PCM and the prepared composites were measured by DSC analysis. The
obtained DSC curves of pure RT27 and different composites (RT27/EP, RT27/EP/SL and RT27/EP/SL/Al) are presented in Fig. 11.
The peak analysis data extracted from these curves are listed in Table 7 for heating and cooling processes. As can be seen from this
table, the melting temperatures are slightly higher than the freezing temperatures, this difference seems normal because generally the
products do not solidify at the same melting temperature. Whereas, if the difference between melting and freezing temperatures is sig-
nificant, it means an overcooling of the material has been occurred. According to Table 7, the super-cooling degrees of the prepared
composites is negligible. Comparing the melting temperatures of RT27/EP/SL/Al and RT27/EP/SL, a difference of −0.23 K is noticed.
This slight decrease in melting temperature is explained by the influence of aluminum which accelerates the melting process. The fab-
ricated composites RT27/EP/SL and RT27/EP/SL/Al have enthalpy values of 107.46 ± 1.89 and 93.77 ± 1.65 kJ/kg.

3.5.2. Temperatures and enthalpies of phase change PCM plaster composites

Two series of plaster composites were prepared, RT27/EP/SL/PL and RT27/EP/SL/Al/PL with different mass fractions of RT27/
EP/SL and RT27/EP/SL/Al ranging from 10 % to 50 %.
As it can be seen from DSC curves presented in Fig. 12, the area of the melting or solidification peaks increases with increasing
composite mass fraction incorporated in the plaster.
The spectral analysis data are summarized in Table 8. The fusion latent heat of plaster composite without aluminum (RT27/EP/
SL/PL) increases from 12.2 ± 0.09 kJ/kg to 44.85 ± 0.10 kJ/kg respectively for the 10 %–50 % range of the composite. When alu-
minum is added, this amount decreases to 7.98 ± 0.03 kJ/kg to 34.21 ± 0.05 kJ/kg for 10 % and 50 %. As shown in Table 9, the ex-

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Fig. 9. SEM images of EP (a,b,c) and EP/RT27 composite (d,e).

perimental enthalpy values of the two series were slightly different than the theoretical values calculated based on the mass fraction
of pure RT27 in the composite and its phase change enthalpy.

3.5.3. Thermal stability of PCM composites

Thermal reliability is an essential factor of the PCM that determines whether the prepared composite can be sucessfully applied,
especially when it is to be integrated into a construction material over a long period of time. To investigate the thermal stability, the
RT27/EP/SL composite was exposed to 100 thermal heating and cooling cycles using DSC. As schown in Fig. 13, during successive
heating and cooling cycles, the melting and solidification peaks of RT27/EP/SL composite were overlapped. The spectral analysis of
the first cycle and cycle number 100 are presented in Table 10. The degree of supercooling increases from 273.59 K to 273,85 K. The
enthalpy values are not affected by thermal cycling. Thus, good thermal stability and reproducibility are exhibited.

3.6. Thermal conductivity improvement

Thermal conductivity plays a key role in measuring the ability to transfer or retrain heat flows in thermal energy storage applica-
tions. The low thermal conductivities of PCM composite components (RT27, EP, plaster) is the common drawback that reduces ther-
mal storage and release rates. The plaster thermal conductivity was 0.415 ± 0.009 W/mK which decreases by adding RT27/EP/SL.
Therefore, to improve this property, a 10 % mass fraction of aluminum powder was added before mixing with the plaster.
Fig. 14 (a,b) shows the thermal conductivity variation of the plaster panel containing the PCM composites prepared with Al
and without Al as a function of the mass fraction of the RT27/EP/SL or RT27/EP/SL/AL composite, as well as the associated un-
certainties for 285.15 K and 313.15 K respectively. As can be seen in this figure, the thermal conductivity values of the plaster
panel with 50 % of RT27/EP/SL changed to 0.223 ± 0.005 and 0.231 ± 0.006 for 285.15 K and 313.15 K. However, when a
10 % mass fraction of aluminum powder was added, these values increased to 0.564 ± 0.0207 W/(m K) and
0.537 ± 0.0142 W/(m K) at 285.15 K and 313.15 K respectively.
Consequently, the thermal conductivity improvement of plaster panel was 152 % at 285.15 K and 132 % at 313.15 K.
The thermal diffusivities of the plaster samples were also measured, Table 11 illustrates their values with experimental uncertain-
ties at 285.15 K and 313.15 K for varying contents of composites with and without aluminium. A slight increase in thermal diffusivity

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Fig. 10. FTIR Spectra of different components (RT27, EP, SL, Plaster) and composites (RT27/EP, RT27/EP/SL, RT27/EP/SL/plaster).

Fig. 11. DSC heating and cooling curves of RT27 paraffin and different composites (RT27/EP, RT27/EP/SL, RT27/EP/SL/Al) at 10 k/min.

with temperature was observed. This property reveals an idea about the heat transfer speed, the higher the diffusivity the faster the
heat transfert. The plaster thermal diffusivity was 0.392 ± 0.026 mm2/s.
For a mass fraction of 50 % of plaster, the thermal diffusivity rises from 0.192 ± 0.009 to 0.410 ± 0.034 mm2/s at 285.15 K and
from 0.219 ± 0.020 to 0.405 ± 0.039 mm2/s at 313.15 K.

3.7. Thermal performance test of paraffin plaster composite

The thermophysical properties of prepared PCM plaster composites reported in precedent subsections 3.5.2 and 3.6 were illus-
trated in Table 12.These properties are encouraging and indicate that the novel composite have a potential application to be used for
regulating inner temperature. Consequently, a comparaison of the thermal behavior between a plasterboard without composite and

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Table 7
Latent heat energy storage properties of RT27 and prepared composites.

Samples solid - liquid transition

Tm Tf ΔHm

(K) (K) (kJ/kg)

RT27 298.25 298 154.00 ± 2.30

RT27/EP 298.85 298.45 108.65 ± 1.63
RT27/EP/SL 298.95 298.35 107.46 ± 1.89
RT27/EP/SL/Al 298.75 298.35 93.77 ± 1.65

Fig. 12. DSC curves of composites with different mass fractions without (a) and with (b) aluminum inserted in the plaster.

Table 8
Latent heat energy storage properties of plaster composites with different mass fractions of RT27/EP/SL and RT27/EP/SL/Al.

Samples RT27/EP/SL RT27/EP/SL/Al

Tm Tf ΔHm Tm Tf ΔHm

(K) (K) (kJ/kg) (K) (K) (kJ/kg)

10 % 298.37 297.99 12.2 ± 0.09 298.17 297.81 7.98 ± 0.03

20 % 298.42 297.95 18.46 ± 0.08 298.32 298.11 18.03 ± 0.11
30 % 298.68 298.13 31.70 ± 0.14 298.47 298.06 26.01 ± 0.08
40 % 298.75 298.1 33.89 ± 0.21 298.57 298.09 31.30 ± 0.31
50 % 298.37 298.15 44.85 ± 0.10 298.53 298.23 34.21 ± 0.05

another containing the RT27/EP/SL/Al composite was carried out numerically. Each panel was exposed to an internal heat flux.The
simulation of thermal behaviour was relied on enthalpy-porosity method. As shown in temperature profile of internal surfaces pre-
sented in Fig. 15, a significant peak temperature decrease of about 3 K appears when adding the paraffin-based composite compared
to the plaster temperature without PCM. In addition, 1.5 h shift in the temperature profile is observed. This means that our PCM com-
posite allows the load to be shifted to another time during the day and contributes to the regulation of the temperature degree as
needed.

4. Conclusion
In his study, the effectiveness of a recent developed PCM plaster composite to store thermal energy was investigated. The plaster
composite based on coated paraffin/expanded perlite with enhanced thermal conductivity by adding aluminum was produced using
vacuum impregnation. The results of the preparation and characterization of the constituents used and the product obtained after
each step of plaster composites were presented.

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Table 9
Comparison between theoretical and experimental mean values of the fusion enthalpy.

Sample ΔHm theoritical (kJ/kg) ΔHm experimental (kJ/kg) Error (%)

10 % RT27/EP/SL - PL 9.61 12.20 ± 0.09 26.95

20 % RT27/EP/SL - PL 18.31 18.46 ± 0.08 0.82
30 % RT27/EP/SL - PL 28.35 31.70 ± 0.14 11.82
40 % RT27/EP/SL - PL 33.66 33.88 ± 0.19 0.65
50 % RT27/EP/SL - PL 47.10 44.85 ± 0.10 4.78
10 %RT27/EP/SL/Al - PL 7.91 7.98 ± 0.03 0.88
20 % RT27/EP/SL/Al – PL 17.90 18.03 ± 0.11 0.70
30 % RT27/EP/SL/Al - PL 25.78 26.01 ± 0.08 0.89
40 % RT27/EP/SL/Al - PL 31.23 31.30 ± 0.31 0.22
50 % RT27/EP/SL/Al - PL 33.87 34.21 ± 0.05 1.00

Fig. 13. Thermal cycling DSC curves applied to the RT27/EP/SL composite prepared by vacuum impregnation (100 cycles).

Table 10
Latent heat energy storage properties of RT27/EP/SL composite for cycles n°1 and n°100.

Samples RT27/EP/SL Solid - liquid transition

Tm Tf ΔHm

(K) (K) (kJ/kg)

Cycle n°1 298.86 298.42 108.09 ± 1.21

Cycle n°100 299.05 298.35 106.87 ± 0.64

The SEM analyses show that he internal morphology of the expanded perlite is an adequate support for RT27. The results of the
FTIR characterization indicate that the structure of the developed composites reveals a good chemical compatibility between the dif-
ferent components: RT27, EP, sikaLatex and plaster. The leakage tests determine that the maximum insertion rate of the paraffin into
the expanded perlite is 70 %. To avoid the leakage of paraffin when the composite could be affected by other material such as water
during mixture with plaster, a waterproof was added with 5.21 wt%.
Moreover, The phase change thermal properties of composites were investigated using DSC analysis during the elaboration
process.The composite was also shown to be stable under thermal cycling experiment, indicating that it could be used for long term
thermal energy storage applications.
The paraffin plaster composite containing 50 wt% of plaster has a thermal storage capacity of approximately 45 kJ/kg which de-
creases by the addition of aluminum to 34 kJ/kg at the range of 298.15 K. Its thermal conductivity is 0.56 W/(m K). These properties
make the novel composite a promising candidate for thermal energy storage in buildings especially when it tested numerically. It

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Fig. 14. Thermal conductivity of the plaster panels containing PCM composite without and with aluminum at 285.15 K (a) and 313.15 K (b).

Table 11
Thermal diffusivity of plaster panels containing PCM composite without and with aluminum at 285.15 K (a) and 313.15 K (b).

PCM composite Fraction RT27/EP/SL + plaster RT27/EP/SL/Al + plaster

2 2 2 2
α (mm /s) at 285.15 K α (mm /s) at 313.15 K α (mm /s) at 285.15 K α (mm /s) at 313.15 K

10 % 0.335 ± 0.019 0.354 ± 0.038 0.438 ± 0.022 0.444 ± 0.061

20 % 0.264 ± 0.009 0.301 ± 0.022 0.396 ± 0.025 0.396 ± 0.021
30 % 0.235 ± 0.010 0.254 ± 0.032 0.403 ± 0.024 0.435 ± 0.047
40 % 0.195 ± 0.008 0.242 ± 0.012 0.387 ± 0.025 0.452 ± 0.076
50 % 0.192 ± 0.009 0.219 ± 0.020 0.410 ± 0.034 0.405 ± 0.039

Table 12
Thermo-physical properties of paraffin plaster composite.

RT27/EP/SL/Al + plaster

2
Tm (K) Tf (K) ΔHm (kJ/kg) λ (W/m.K) at 285.15 K α (mm /s) at 285.15 K

298.53 298.23 34.21 ± 0.05 0.564 ± 0.0207 0.438 ± 0.022

showed a peak temperature reduction of 3 K and a shift time of 1.5 h compared to pure plaster. This result will be having an excellent
impact on the energy saving by affecting the loading peaks of electric consumption and the indoor temperature regulation.
Despite the robust composite texture shown during preparation, it is necessary to carry out the mechanical and fire tests in the fu-
ture to have an optimized and a suitable plaster composite board for thermal management application in building envelopes on large-
scale. To evaluate quantitative energy savings, a comparison in terms of heat fluxes and energy consumption between two rooms with
and without PCM composite is required under different climate conditions.

Author contribution
Najoua Mekaddem, Conceptualization, Methodology/Study design, Validation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – re-
view and editing, Visualization, Samia Ben-Ali: Conceptualization, Methodology/Study design, Resources, Writing – review and edit-
ing, Supervision. Magali Fois, Resources, Supervision Ahmed Hannachi, Conceptualization, Methodology/Study design, Resources,
Writing – review and editing, Supervision.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing in-
terests: Najoua Mekaddem reports was provided by ANPR.

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N. Mekaddem et al. Journal of Building Engineering 84 (2024) 108603

Fig. 15. Evolution of the temperature as a function of time for plasterboard panels without and with PCM composite.

Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.

Acknowledgements
This project is carried out within the framework of a MOBIDOC doctoral thesis of the PASRI program financed by the EU and man-
aged by the ANPR.

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