Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Preparation and thermal storage performance of phase change

ceramsite sand and thermal storage light-weight concrete
Min Li a, *, Dongyi Zhou a, Yaqing Jiang b
a
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China
b
College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: 1. Abstract: In this study, preparation and thermal storage performance of phase change ceramsite sand
Received 29 January 2021 and thermal of storage light-weight concrete are studied. Sintering-free ceramsite and ceramsite sand
Received in revised form with high adsorption ability were prepared. Then, paraffin is incorporated into them to fabricate phase
16 April 2021
-change coarse aggregate and phase-change fine aggregate, respectively, which are used to prepare
Accepted 5 May 2021
Available online 7 May 2021
thermal storage light weight concrete. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Mercury intrusion method (MIP)
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD)
are employed to analyze the specific surface area, pore structure, thermal properties, chemical compo-
Keywords:
Ceramsite sand
sition and phase composition of phase change aggregate. The compressive strength and the temperature
Porosity regulation performance of the thermal storage light weight concrete are studied. The results show that
Phase change aggregate the porosity of the ceramsite sand is 58.27% when the content of expanded perlite and Aluminum is 30 g
Thermal storage and 1 g, respectively. In addition, the adsorption rate of paraffin in the ceramsite sand is 42.75 wt% and
Light-weight the melting latent heat of the phase change ceramsite sand is 45.64 J/g. The compressive strength of the
Concrete prepared thermal storage light-weight concrete meets the strength level of lightweight concrete 15 Mpa
(LC15) Moreover, the prepared concrete shows light-weight character and good temperature regulation
performance. The prepared thermal storage concrete shows a good application prospect in energy-saving
and the use of renewable energy.
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction microcapsules, the porous material adsorption method is more

With the development of society, energy consumption is
increasing day by day [1]. In some developed countries, 40% of
energy consumption is related to building energy consumption of
which 60% are related to room thermal regulation systems such as
heating, exhaust and refrigeration [2,3]. The application of phase
change materials (PCMs) can effectively relieve the energy supply
pressure of the thermal regulation systems [4,5]. At present, the
phase change materials used in the building energy conservation
field are mostly solid-liquid PCMs, which tend to leak out during
the phase change process. Therefore, choosing the appropriate
carrier to prevent leakage is crucial for the practical application of
PCMs [6]. At present, the common methods to prevent leakage are
microencapsulation [7] and porous material adsorption [8].
Compared with the high cost and complex process of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: limin.li@163.com (M. Li).
extensive.
The commonly used porous materials include artificial porous
materials such as a-Al2O3 [9], porous SiO2 [10], and natural porous
materials that include expanded perlite (EP) [11], expanded
vermiculite [12], diatomite [13], montmorillonite [14] and other
clay minerals. The appropriate pore structure is the key factor for
increasing adsorption capacity. Nomura [15] et al. studied the
adsorption of EP, a-Al2O3 and other carriers with different pore
sizes to PCMs in order to explore the effect of appropriate pore size
on the adsorption of PCMs. It was pointed out that when the pore
size was larger than 10 mm, it was not conducive to the adsorption
of PCMs by capillary force. However, too small pore size would
affect the phase transition behavior of PCMs. Cristian [16] et al.
employed mesoporous silicon with pore sizes of 2.8 and 6.3 nm as
carriers to adsorb PCMs. The result showed that no phase change
occurred even when the temperature was higher than the phase
change point. Gao [17] et al. reviewed the form stable phase change
material (FSPCM) with different nano-pore sizes and pointed out
that the FSPCM with narrow pore size (<20 nm) would lead to “a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.034
0960-1481/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

nonfreezing layer”, which meant that PCMs confined in the shell mesh) was purchased from Suzhou Changkun Calcium Industry Co.,
would cause a decrease in latent heat owing to the crystallization Ltd. Aluminum powder (200 mesh) was provided from Jinan Yin-
behaviors missing. Based on above researches, the porous material peng Building Materials Co., Ltd. PCM (paraffin) was purchased by
with pore size distribution of 0.02e10 mm is appropriate for the Shanghai Joule Wax Industry Co., Ltd. Polycarboxylic acid super-
PCMs adsorption. plasticizer (SP) was provided from Jiangsu Bote New Materials Co.,
Using FSPCM as phase change aggregates to prepare thermal Ltd. The water reduction rate of SP is 25%. The ordinary sand was
storage concrete is an effective way to achieve passive building purchased from Huayao Mineral Products Processing Factory. The
energy conservation. Sukontasukkul [18] et al. replaced ordinary fineness modulus of the sand is 2.0. The chemical composition of
ceramsite with the phase change aggregate (ceramsite/PCMs) to the main raw materials is shown in Table 1.
prepare thermal storage concrete. The results showed that the
content of PCMs in concrete is about 7.8 wt% when ordinary 2.2. Preparation of ceramsite and CS
ceramsite is totally replaced by ceramsite/PCMs. The compressive
strength is 25.4 Mpa at the age of 28 d and the latent heat value is The preparation process is shown in Fig. 1. A certain amount of
7722 J/kg for thermal storage concrete. Wang [19] et al. used cement, fly ash, EP, aluminum powder, calcium oxide and other raw
ceramsite to adsorb 28.1 wt% of PCMs to prepare thermal storage materials are ground to 100 mesh with a planetary ball mill (DM-
concrete. The conclusion indicated that the compressive strength of 2L, Nanjing Daxie Technology), and then the powder is weighed
concrete is 18.3 MPa at the age of 28 d when the volume substi- according to a certain mass ratio and mixed evenly. Subsequently,
tution is 80% of ceramsite/PCMs. Phase change microcapsules were the mixture is transferred to a disc-type ball machine (BY-400,
served as fine aggregates to replace sand by Cao [20] et al. When Changsha Zhuocheng Medical Instrument Co., Ltd.). The rotating
the content of microcapsules was 3.2 wt%, the compressive speed is set to be 30~50 r/min and the rotating time is 10e15 min.
strength of concrete was decreased by about 42% at the age of 28 d. During the process of forming the ball, water is sprayed on the
Furthermore, the energy consumption of the room built with powder. The powder is agglomerated with water to form a nucleus
thermal storage concrete was reduced by about 11% compared with and grows to be ceramsite balls. After the molding was completed,
that built with room ordinary concrete when the room temperature the ceramsite balls with different particle sizes were sieved out. The
was maintained at 23
C. The above literatures all used sintering products are first placed in a steam curing box (60
C, 95% RH),
commercial ceramsite in the experiment, which has low adsorption curing for 12 h. Then they are washed with water followed by
ability. Furthermore, the production process of the sintering placing in an oven at 80
C for 12 h. The prepared ceramsite and CS
ceramsite is high energy consumption. Sarra Drissi et al. [21] are shown in Fig. 2 and the mix proportion of the ceramsite and CS
developed a core-shell structured phase change material aggre- are shown in Table 2.
gates with cement, calcium hydroxide and concrete waste powder.
The peak temperature of the prepared PCM-concrete panels
decreased by about 1
C. However, the PCM-aggregates were coated 2.3. Preparation of the phase change aggregate
with epoxy, which will produce inorganic/organic interface in
concrete and decrease the performance of the concrete. The phase change CS is prepared by vacuum impregnation
At present, although commonly used as the carrier to absorb adsorption method. The paraffin is weighed and heated to melt
PCMs, the commercial ceramsite has a shortage of low adsorption completely in a water bath at 60
C Then the CS is immersed into it,
ability of PCMs. In addition, the use of ceramsite sand (CS) with after which the mixture is put into a vacuum drying oven at 60
C
diameter less than 5 mm as lightweight fine aggregate to absorb for 2 h. The production is filtered out and the surface is wiped dry.
PCMs and prepare thermal storage concrete is hardly reported. A The phase change fine aggregates (CS/paraffin) are obtained. The
novel ceramsite and ceramsite sand with high adsorption ability
and the corresponding thermal storage concrete need to be studied Table 1
further to advance the use of solar energy and energy-saving. Chemical composition of raw materials (wt.%).
Compared to sintering method, sintering-free method has the
Oxide SiO2 Al2O3 CaO Fe2O3 K2O MgO Na2O Others
advantages of energy-saving, simple process, low-cost, etc. In this
paper, sintering-free method is employed to prepare ceramsite and Cement 23.65 6.86 58.42 2.85 0.85 1.47 0.53 5.37
Fly ash 57.42 32.04 0.56 2.18 1.32 0.51 0.54 5.43
CS which possess high porosity and PCMs adsorption ability. The EP 71.46 16.79 1.52 e 4.54 0.35 4.33 6.01
powdered expanded perlite is used as a light filler. The ceramsite
and CS for adsorbing PCMs are used to prepare phase change coarse
aggregate and phase change fine aggregate, respectively, which are
used to prepare thermal storage light weight concrete (TSLW
concrete). The compressive strength, thermal conductivity and
temperature-time curve of the TSLW concrete are studied. And the
result demonstrates that the TSLW concrete possesses light-weight
characteristic and thermal storage ability.

2. Experimental

2.1. Raw materials

Ordinary Portland cement (P.O 42.5) was purchased from China

Cement Factory Co., Ltd. EP (30~50 mesh) was purchased from
Lingshou Haoqian Mineral Powder Processing Factory. Fly ash
(Grade I) was provided from Baifeng Mineral Products Processing
Plant, Hebei. The commercial CS (1~5 mm) was purchased from
Jinrui New Building Material Factory, Anhui. Calcium oxide (325 Fig. 1. Preparation process of CS and ceramsite.

144
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

Fig. 2. The macroscopic morphology of ceramsite and CS: (a) CS (1~5 mm); (b)Ceramsite (>5 mm).

Table 2 standard “Technical Specification for Lightweight Aggregate Con-

Mix proportion of CS (g). crete” (JGJ51-2002). The size cumulative distribution of sand is
Samples Cement Fly ash EP CaO Al powder Water shown in Table 3. The phase change aggregate is used to replace the
0A0E 10 80 0 10 0 20
ordinary aggregate in the lightweight concrete by volume ratio. The
1A0E 10 80 0 10 1 20 mix proportion is shown in Table 4.
1A10E 10 70 10 10 1 20
1A30E 10 50 30 10 1 20
2.5. Characterization and testing methods
Tip：aAbE refers to that b g of EP and a g of aluminum powder.

adsorption capacity of paraffin (h) is calculated by formula 1:
ðma  mb Þ
h¼  100%
ma
where mb and ma represents the weight of the CS before and after
adsorption, respectively.
The preparation of phase change ceramsite (Ceramsite/paraffin)
is the same as the above process.
2.4. Preparation of the TSLW concrete
2.4.1. Coating of phase change aggregate
The prepared phase change aggregates are weighed and wetted
with water. Then the wetted phase change aggregates are put into
the disc-type ball machine with a certain amount of cement (50 r/
min, 1e1.5 min). The coated phase change aggregate was screened
out and cured at the standard condition (20 ± 1
C, 95% RH) for 7
days.
2.4.2. Mix proportion design of thermal storage concrete
The TSLW concrete with grade LC15 is prepared according to the
The specific surface area and the BJH pore distribution are
determined by a fully automatic surface measuring instrument
(BET, V-sorb 2800P, Beijing Jinepu Science and Technology, China).
The morphology of the material is characterized by optical micro-
(1) scopy (MS60, Guangzhou Mingmei Technology, China). The mer-
cury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) is performed with automatic
mercury intrusion meter (Auto Pore IV 9500, Mike Instruments Co.,
Ltd. USA) to measure the pore size distribution.
The latent heat of PCM and phase change aggregates are
determined by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC, 200F3 Maia,
NETZSCH, Germany). The test conditions are N2 atmosphere and
the temperature scanning range was 10
Ce70
C. The tempera-
ture rises and falls rates are both 5
C/min. The chemical structure
and crystal structure of the material are analyzed by Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, Nicolet IS10, Thermo Elec-
tron Corporation, USA) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD, NETZSCH,
Germany), respectively.
The thermal conductivities of the thermal storage concrete are
measured with thermal conductivity measurement instrument
(FOX 314, TA Instruments-Waters LLC, USA). The size of the con-
crete is 300  300  30 mm. The concrete compressive strength is
tested according to standard " (GB50081-2002)" with WHY-3000
automatic press. The size of the concrete is 100  100  100 mm.
The temperature regulation performance of the phase change

Table 3
Grain size cumulative distribution of sand.

Sand Screen residue (wt.%)

>4.75 mm 2.36e4.75 mm 1.18e2.36 mm 0.6e1.18 mm 0.3e0.6 mm 0.15e0.3 mm

CS 0 30 80 100 100 100

River sand 0 0 0 70 90 100

Table 4
Mix proportion of the thermal storage concrete (kg/m3).

Samples Cement Ceramsite Ceramsite/paraffin CS CS/paraffin River sand Water SP

0F0C 400 487 0 254 0 169 180 3.26

50F0C 400 487 0 127 245 169 180 3.26
100F0C 400 487 0 0 490 169 180 3.26
100F50C 400 243 472 0 490 169 180 3.26
100F100C 400 0 944 0 490 169 180 3.26

Tips: FmC indicates that l% of ordinary CS is replaced by CS/paraffin, and m% of ordinary ceramsite is replaced by Ceramsite/paraffin.

145
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang
Fig. 3. The temperature regulation performance test: (a) Phase change aggregate; (b)
Thermal storage concrete.
aggregate is tested and analyzed using the apparatus shown in
Fig. 3 (a). The temperature-time curve is recorded by a multi-
channel temperature recorder (TOPRIE-TP700, Bost, China). A
certain amount of phase change aggregate is placed into the beaker,
then the probes of the multi-channel temperature recorder are
embedded into the material. Subsequently, it is put into a water
bath at 60
C to measure the temperature rise curve. Next, it is
taken out when the temperature is stable and put in a cold bath at
5
C, and then its cooling curve is measured.
The temperature regulation performance of the TSLW concrete
is analyzed by a simulating cell as shown in Fig. 3 (b). In this test,
specimens with the size of 300  300  30 mm were firstly exposed
to heat radiation from a 1000 W fluorescent lamp for 150 min;
afterwards, they were naturally cooled to room temperature
without any cooling auxiliaries. The temperature developments of
the cell were recorded by a Multi-channel temperature system.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. 1Analysis of specific surface area and pore porosity of CS
The nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm curves of CS are
shown in Fig. 4. The specific surface areas of CS are shown in
Table 5. The adsorption-desorption curves in Fig.4 (a)e(e) belong to
the typical IV type adsorption-desorption curve [21]. There is an
inflection point in the low-pressure area, and the absorption
quantity rises rapidly in the high-pressure area. An adsorption
hysteresis loop can be clearly observed, which corresponds to the
capillary condensation phenomenon. In Fig. 4 (a) and Table 5, it can
be observed that the absorption quantity of commercial CS is very
small, which is about 1.5 m3/g. The BET specific surface area is only
0.14 m2/g and the porosity is 26.75%. Table 5 shows that the BET
specific surface area of the prepared CS with the incorporation of
aluminum powder and EP has been increased compared to that of
the commercial CS. Among them, the specific surface area of 1A30E
is 9.09 m2/g, which is about 99.34% higher than that of 0A0E.
146
Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152
3.2. Analysis of pore distribution of CS
In order to further study the pore structure of CS, mercury
intrusion method (MIP) was employed to analyze the samples. The
results are shown in Fig. 5 and Table 6. According to the research
result of reference [15e17], the porous material with pore size
distribution of 0.02e10 mm is appropriate for the PCMs adsorption.
The pore diameter in the range of 20 nm to 10 mm was counted. In
Table 6, it can be observed that the volume fraction of commercial
CS, 0A0E and 1A0E of pores in 20 nme10mm are 55.17%, 65.32% and
61.28%, respectively. For 1A10E and 1A30E CS, the volume fraction
of pores in 20 nme10 mm are 76.17% and 86.21%, respectively. It can
be seen from Fig. 6 that there are a large number of pores that are
larger than 10 mm in the commercial CS, 0A0E and 1A0E. Little pores
of 1A30E are larger than 10 mm. Table 6 indicated that the prepared
CS has higher porosity than that of commercial CS. With the
incorporation of aluminum powder and EP, the porosity of the
prepared CS is improved. 1A30E has the maximum porosity, which
is 58.27%. It can be concluded that the addition of Al powder and EP
can effectively improve the porosity, adsorption performance and
optimize pore distribution of CS. 1A30E shows the best pore
structure for paraffin adsorption (see Table 7).
3.3. Properties of the phase change aggregate
3.3.1. Analysis of adsorption and leakage
1A30E and commercial CS is employed to prepare phase change
aggregate CS/paraffin with and without vacuum pumping, respec-
tively. The adsorption rate of CS to paraffin (h) is shown in Table 6. It
can be seen that the content of PCM adsorbed by commercial CS is
only 16.18 wt% under vacuum conditions. While 1A30E can absorb
paraffin up to 42.75 wt%.
CS/paraffin is placed on a clean filter paper, and then heated in
an oven for 30 min. After that, the filter paper is taken out. The size
of the oil stain was shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6 (a), it can be observed
that there is a large oil stain on the surface of the filter paper, which
indicates that the leakage is very serious during the phase change
process. In Fig. 6 (b), little oil stain can be observed on the surface of
the filter paper. The result shows that 1A30E has better anti-leakage
performance.
3.3.2. SEM and XRD analysis
From Fig. 7 (a), it can be observed that the spherical fly ash
particles and the micropores on the surface of the substrate. In
Fig. 7 (b), the interstitial pores between the reactants are observed,
and in Fig. 7 (c), it is found that there are open communicating
holes inside the interior of the ceramsite. This result shows that the
self-made EP-based ceramsite sand has a relatively rich pore
structure in the micron size, which provides a space for phase
change materials. In addition, as shown in Fig. 7 (d), it can be
observed that the surface of the cut surface of the EP-based
ceramsite sand is covered with rich oil, which is paraffin.
Fig. 8 exhibits the XRD pattern of paraffin, 1A30E and 1A30E/
paraffin. The XRD diffraction curves of 1A30E show that the main
phase composition of 1A30E are CaCO3, Ca(OH)2, mullite,
3CaO∙Al2O3. (C3A) and 3CaO∙ Al2O3∙6H2O. It can be observed that
the characteristic peak of paraffin appeared at 2q ¼ 12.4
, 21.8
,
24.1
from the XRD diffraction curves. The XRD diffraction curves of
1A30E/paraffin shows both the characteristic peak of 1A30E and
that of paraffin, which indicates that the paraffin has been loaded in
1A30E. In addition, other obvious diffraction peaks can not be
observed, which means no new phase is formed. The value of the
characteristic peak in the XRD diffraction curve of 1A30E/paraffin is
lower than that of pure paraffin. This result could be attributed to
the fact that the paraffin content is relatively low and the existing
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang
Fig. 4. The nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm curves of CS: (a) Commercial ceramsite, (b) 0A0E, (c) 1A0E, (d) 1A10E, (e) 1A30E.
Table 5
Pore porosity and BET specific surface area of CS.
CS Commercial CS
BET specific surface area (m2/g) 0.14
narrow pores in the 1A30E limit the crystallization behavior of the
paraffin [22].
3.3.3. Infrared spectral analysis
The infrared spectrum of paraffin and 1A30E/paraffin are shown
in Fig. 9. The curve (a) is the infrared spectrum of pure PCMs. The
characteristic peak at 2916 cm1 is the symmetrical stretching vi-
bration peak of -CH3. The characteristic peak at 2849 cm1 is the
symmetrical stretching vibration peak of -CH2 functional group and
the characteristic peaks at 2955 cm1 is the asymmetrical
stretching vibration peak of -CH2 [23,24]. The characteristic peaks
at 1466 cm1 and 720 cm1 correspond to the bending vibration
peak of -CH2 and the in-plane swaying bending absorption peak,
respectively [25]. The characteristic peak at 973 cm1 corresponds
147
Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152
0A0E 1A0E 1A10E 1A30E
4.56 7.72 7.98 9.09
to the stretching vibration peak of carbonyl single bond of -C-O
[26]. The infrared spectra of 1A30E is shown in the curve (c). The
characteristic peaks of 1416 cm1 and 872 cm1 correspond to the
asymmetric stretching and bending peaks of CO2 3 , respectively.
The peak at 1007 cm1 corresponds to the bending vibration peak
[26] of Si-O-Si. The curve (b) is the infrared spectrum of 1A30E/
paraffin. The bending vibration peak of Si-O-Si shifts from
1007 cm1 to 1002 cm1. In addition, there are no new character-
istic peaks. So, paraffin and 1A30E are combined physically without
any chemical reactions between them.
3.3.4. Analysis of thermal storage performance
The DSC curves of the phase change aggregates and PCM are
shown in Fig. 10. Table 8 is a summary of the thermal properties
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

Fig. 5. Pore diameter distribution of the CS.

Fig. 6. The leakage test: (a) Commercial CS/paraffin (b) 1A30E/paraffin.

from Fig. 10. It can be observed that the phase change behavior of Table 7
the commercial CS/paraffin and 1A30E/paraffin is slightly different Adsorption rate of CS to paraffin.
from pure paraffin. The melting enthalpy of the commercial CS/
Samples mb (g) ma1 (g) ma2 (g) h (no vacuum) h (vacuum)
paraffin and 1A30E/paraffin are 23.49 J/g and 45.64 J/g, respec-
tively, which is attributed to the fact that 1A30E absorbs much Commercial CS 20 23.5101 23.8607 14.93% 16.18%
1A30E 20 34.2936 34.9345 41.68% 42.75%
more paraffin compared to the commercial CS/paraffin. However,
the melting enthalpy of 1A30E/paraffin is 35.82% of pure paraffin, Tips: ma1 and ma2 are the mass after adsorption under no vacuum and vacuum
which is less than the adsorption rate of 1A30E to paraffin (42.75%). condition, respectively.

On the one hand, it is caused by a slight leakage of PCM. On the

other hand, the phase change behavior would be limited owing to
the narrow pore and cause the change of the melting temperature
and enthalpy, as reported in Refs. [17,27].
Fig. 11 is the Temperature - Time curve of phase change aggre-
gates and paraffin. It can be observed that there is a heating plat-
form near the temperature of 24.4
C in the temperature rising
period, which is attributed to the melting process of paraffin. The
heat is absorbed and the temperature rise slows down accordingly.
In the cooling period, there is a cooling platform near the tem-
perature of 23.6
C. During the time, paraffin begins to solidify and
the heat is released, which leads to the slowness of the temperature
dropping rate. The cooling platforms of the commercial CS/paraffin,
1A30E/PCM and PCM last 274 s, 705 s and 1516 s, respectively,
which is attributed to the different contents and crystalline en-
thalpies of PCMs.
3.4. Property of thermal storage light -weight concrete
3.4.1. Properties of the coated phase change aggregate
Fig. 12 shows the optical microscopy of the coated phase change
aggregate. It can be observed that the average thickness of the
coating shell is about 250 mm.
The bulk density and the core material mass ratio of the coated
phase change aggregates are shown in Table 9 and Table 10,
respectively. It can be observed that the bulk density of phase
change aggregates increases significantly and the core material
mass ratio is about 50 wt% after being coated. The leakage is tested
according to the method of Part 3.3.1. The result is shown in Fig. 13.
It can be observed that the leakage is effectively prevented after
being coated by cement.
3.4.2. Compressive strength of the TSLW concrete
The strength of the concretes is shown in Fig. 14. It can be
observed that the compressive strength decreases with the in-
crease of the paraffin content in the TSLW concretes. The
compressive strength of 0F0C is 27.1 Mpa at the age of 28 days. In
the 100F100C sample, the ordinary ceramsite and ordinary CS are
totally replaced by ceramsite/paraffin and commercial CS/paraffin
according to volume, respectively. The compressive strength de-
creases to 17.9 Mpa at the age of 28 days and the strength reduction
ratio is 33.95% compared to 0F0C. The large amount of paraffin that
is introduced into the concrete will reduce the mechanical prop-
erties [20,28]. The dry density of concrete is shown in Table 11. The
dry density of the thermal storage concrete increases with the
amount growth of the phase change aggregates. The 28-day
compressive strength of 100F50C is 21.7 MPa and the dry density
is 1491.2 kg/m3, which meets the strength level of LC15 lightweight
concrete in standard JGJ51-2002 (Technical Specification for
Lightweight Aggregate Concrete, 21.58 MPa, 1400~1900 kg/m3).
3.4.3. Thermal conductivity of thermal storage light -weight
concrete
The effect of paraffin content on the thermal conductivity of
TSLW concretes is shown in Fig. 15. It can be seen that the thermal
conductivity of TSLW concretes is gradually reduced. The content of
paraffin in 100F100C is 13.12 wt%. The thermal conductivity of
100F100C is 0.3358 W/(m∙K), which decreases about 50.1%
compared to 0F0C. It is because that the thermal energy is stored in
PCM in the form of latent heat during the phase change process,
which slows down heat transfer rate and temperature rising rate
[29].

Table 6
Pore distribution parameter of the CS.

CS Commercial CS 0A0E 1A0E 1A10E 1A30E

Volume fraction of pores in 20 nme10 mm (%) 55.17 65.32 61.28 76.17 86.21
Porosity (%) 26.75 29.28 39.26 49.32 58.27

148
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang
Fig. 7. The SEM images of EP-based ceramsite sand in different bars (a), (b), (c) and EP-based ceramsite sand/paraffin (d).
3.4.4. Temperature regulation performance of the TSLW concretes
The temperature-time curves are measured in order to test the
thermal storage performance of the TSLW concretes, as shown in
Fig. 16. It could be observed that the temperature of the cube cell at
0F0C increases with the illumination time under the same illumi-
nation conditions. And the temperature reaches the temperature
peak of 43.61
C after 79 min of illumination. While the time
arriving at the peak temperature for the cube cell at 100F0C or
100F50C is relatively extended to 92min and 122min, respectively.
It can be observed that the peak temperature of the 100F0C and
100F50C is 42.7
C and 40.6
C, which is reduced by about 1.1
C and
3
C compared with 0F0C, respectively. So, the prepared TSLW
concretes can decrease the peak temperature and delay the emer-
gence of the peak temperature effectively. With the increase of the
paraffin content, the temperature regulation effect of the TSLW
concretes is more obvious.
Fig. 8. XRD pattern of paraffin, 1A30E and 1A30E/paraffin.
149
Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152
4. Conclusions
In this work, novel phase change ceramsite and ceramsite sand
were prepared by using sintering-free method and cement-coating.
Based on them, thermal storage light weight concrete was pre-
pared. The structural and thermal storage performance properties
of the phase change ceramsite sand and the TSLW concretes were
characterized by BET, MIP, XRD, FT-IR, and DSC. Based on the results
obtained from this experimental research, the following conclu-
sions can be drawn:
(1) The usage of EP as a filler and Al powder as pore former can
effectively increase the specific surface area and the porosity
of the samples.
(2) The prepared ceramsite sand 1A30E can absorb 42.75 wt% of
paraffin under vacuum conditions, which is much more than
Fig. 9. Infrared spectrum of samples: (a) Paraffin; (b) 1A30E/Paraffin; (c) 1A30E-.
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

Fig. 10. DSC curves of samples: (a) Paraffin; (b) Commercial CS/paraffin; (c) 1A30E/paraffin.

Table 8
Thermal properties of phase change aggregates.

Samples Tms (
C) Tm (
C) DHm (J/g) Tcs (
C) Tc (
C) DHc(J/g)

Paraffin 16.7 29.7 127.4 25.1 20.9 124.5
Commercial CS/paraffin 20.7 30.0 23.49 25.0 20.3 20.47
1A30E/paraffin 18.9 28.4 45.64 24.3 21.2 44.38

Tips: Tms, Tcs, Tc, Tm, DHm and DHc represent the onset melting temperature, the onset crystallization temperature, the melting peak temperature, the crystallization peak
temperature, melting enthalpy and crystalline enthalpy, respectively.

the commercial CS. The melting latent heat of the 1A30E/ performance. XRD and FT-IR analysis showed that paraffin
paraffin is 45.64J/g, which shows good thermal storage and CS are combined physically.

Fig. 11. Temperature - Time curve of phase change aggregates: (a) Paraffin; (b) 1A30E/
paraffin; (c) Commercial CS/paraffin. Fig. 12. The optical microscopy of the coated phase change aggregate.

150
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152

Table 9
Bulk density before and after adsorption and coated (kg/m3).

Phase change aggregate Before adsorption to paraffin After adsorption to paraffin After being coated by cement

CS (1~5 mm) 647 1050 1253

Ceramsite (>5 mm) 569 961 1106

Table 10
Core material mass ratio of the coated phase change aggregates.

Phase change aggregate Before being coated by cement (g) After being coated by coated (g) Core material mass ratio (wt%)

CS (1~5 mm) 50 103.48 48.3

Ceramsite (>5 mm) 50 96.82 51.69

Fig. 13. Leakage test of the coated phase change aggregate.

Fig. 15. Effect of PCM content on thermal conductivity.

Fig. 14. Effect of paraffin content on the strength of TSLW concretes.

Fig. 16. The thermal storage performance of TSLW concretes: (a) 0F0C(b) 100F0C(c)
Table 11 100F50C.
Dry density of TSLW concretes (kg/m3).

Samples 0F0C 50F0C 100F0C 100F50C 100F100C

CRediT authorship contribution statement
Dry density 1298.8 1352.3 1417.7 1491.2 1576.8

Min Li: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Data curation,

Writing e original draft. Dongyi Zhou: Conceptualization, Formal
(3) When 100 vol% of ordinary CS is replaced by CS/paraffin and
analysis, Data curation, Methodology, Writing e original draft.
50 vol% of ordinary ceramsite is replaced by ceramsite/
Yaqing Jiang: Resources.
paraffin, the compressive strength of the TSLW concrete for
28 days is 21.7 MPa and the dry density is 1491.2 kg/m3,
which meets the requirements of LC15 grade lightweight Declaration of competing interest
concrete in standard JGJ51-2002. And the thermal conduc-
tivity is 0.4332 W/(m ∙ K). The prepared TSLW concrete The authors declare that they have no known competing
shows a good temperature regulation ability and the light- financial interests or personal relationships that could have
weight feature. appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
151
M. Li, D. Zhou and Y. Jiang
Acknowledgments
The authors have been funded by the key project of National
Natural Science Foundation of China (51738003), which is financed
by the National Natural Science Fund Committee.
References
[1] A. Kasaeian, L. Bahrami, F. Pourfayaz, E. Khodabandeh, W.M. Yan, Experi-
mental studies on the applications of PCMs and nano-PCMs in buildings: a
critical review, Energy Build. 154 (1) (2017) 96e112.
[2] M. Iten, S.L. Liu, A. Shukla, A review on the air-PCM-TES application for free
cooling and heating in the buildings, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 61 (2016)
175e186.
[3] D. Zhou, C.Y. Zhao, Y. Tian, Review on thermal energy storage with phase
change materials (PCMs) in building applications, Appl. Energy 92 (4) (2012)
593e605.
[4] B.R. Hughes, J.K. Calautit, S.A. Ghani, The development of commercial wind
towers for natural ventilation: a review, Appl. Energy 92 (2012) 606e627.
[5] P. Arce, M. Medrano, A. Gil, E. Oro, L.F. Cabeza, Overview of thermal energy
storage (TES) potential energy savings and climate change mitigation in Spain
and Europe, Appl. Energy 88 (8) (2011) 2764e2774.
[6] J. Heier, C. Bales, V. Martin, Combining thermal energy storage with buildings-
a review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 42 (2015) 1305e1325.
[7] Y. Konuklu, H.O. € Paksoy, Polystyrene-based caprylic acid microencapsulation
for thermal energy storage, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C 159 (2017) 235e242.
[8] S. Rashidi, J.A. Esfahani, N. Karimi, Porous materials in building energy tech-
nologiesda review of the applications, modelling and experiments, Renew.
Sustain. Energy Rev. 91 (2018) 229e247.
[9] W.J. Miao, Y.B. Wang, X.G. Li, Development of spherical a-Al2O3-based com-
posite phase change materials (PCMs) and its utilization in thermal storage
building materials, Thermochim. Acta 676 (2019) 177e185.
[10] Y.Z. Zhang, S.L. Zheng, S.Q. Zhu, J.N. Ma, Z.M. Sun, M. Farid, Evaluation of
paraffin infiltrated in various porous silica matrices as shape-stabilized phase
change materials for thermal energy storage, Energy Convers. Manag. 171
(2018) 361e370.
[11] S. Ramakrishnan, J. Sanjayan, X.M. Wang, M. Alam, J. Wilson, A novel paraffin/
expanded perlite composite phase change material for prevention of PCM
leakage in cementitious composites, Appl. Energy 157 (2015) 85e94.
[12] R.L. Wen, Z.H. Huang, Y.T. Huang, X.G. Zhang, X. Min, M.H. Fang, Y.G. Liu,
X.W. Wu, Synthesis and characterization of lauric acid/expanded vermiculite
as form-stabilized thermal energy storage materials, Energy Build. 116 (2016)
677e683.
[13] X.W. Fu, Z.M. Liu, Y. Xiao, J.L. Wang, J.X. Lei, Preparation and properties of
lauric acid/diatomite composites as novel form-stable phase change materials
for thermal energy storage, Energy Build. 104 (2015) 244e249.
[14] M. Li, Q.G. Guo, S. Nutt, Carbon nanotube/paraffin/montmorillonite composite
phase change material for thermal energy storage, Sol. Energy 146 (2017)
1e7.
152
Renewable Energy 175 (2021) 143e152
[15] T. Nomura, N. Okinaka, T. Akiyama, Impregnation of porous material with
phase change material for thermal energy storage, Mater. Chem. Phys. 115
(2e3) (2009) 846e850.
[16] R.A. Mitran, D. Berger, C. Munteanu, C. Mater, Evaluation of different meso-
porous silica supports for energy storage in shape-stabilized phase change
materials with dual thermal response, J. Phys. Chem. C 119 (27) (2015)
15177e15184.
[17] H.Y. Gao, J.J. Wang, X. Chen, G. Wang, X.B. Huang, A. Li, W.J. Dong, Nano-
confinement effects on thermal properties of nanoporous shape stabilized
composite PCMs: a review, Nano Energy 53 (2018) 769e797.
[18] P. Sukontasukkul, P. Uthaichotirat, T. Sangpet, K. Sisomphon, M. Newlands,
A. Siripanichgorn, P. Chindaprasirt, Thermal properties of lightweight con-
crete incorporating high contents of phase change materials, Construct. Build.
Mater. 207 (2019) 431e439.
[19] R. Wang, M. Ren, X.J. Gao, L. Qin, Preparation and properties of fatty acids
based thermal energy storage aggregate concrete, Construct. Build. Mater. 165
(2018) 1e10.
[20] V.D. Cao, S. Pilehvar, C. Salas-Bringas, A.M. Szczotok, J.F. Rodriguez,
M. Carmona, N. Al-Manasir, A.L. Kjoniksen, Microencapsulated phase change
materials for enhancing the thermal performance of Portland cement concrete
and geopolymer concrete for passive building applications, Energy Convers.
Manag. 133 (2017) 56e66.
[21] D. Sarra, T.C. Ling, K.H. Mo, Thermal performance of a solar energy storage
concrete panel incorporating phase change material aggregates developed for
thermal regulation in buildings, Renew. Energy 160 (2020) 817e829.
[22] T. Zou, W.W. Fu, X.H. Liang, S.F. Wang, X.N. Gao, Z.G. Zhang, Y.T. Fang, Prep-
aration and performance of form-stable TBAB hydrate/SiO2 composite PCM
for cold energy storage, Int. J. Refrig. 101 (2019) 117e124.
[23] Y.Z. Zhang, S.L. Zheng, S.Q. Zhu, J.N. Ma, Z.M. Sun, M. Farid, Evaluation of
paraffin infiltrated in various porous silica matrices as shape-stabilized phase
change materials for thermal energy storage, Energy Convers. Manag. 171
(2018) 361e370.
[24] G.V. Belessiotis, K.G. Papadokostaki, E.P. Favvas, Preparation and investigation
of distinct and shape stable paraffin/SiO2 composite PCM nanospheres, Energy
Convers. Manag. 168 (2018) 382e394.
[25] M.K. Ram, P.D. Myers, C. Jotshi, D.Y. Goswami, E.K. Stefanakos, K.D. Arvanitis,
E. Papanicolaou, V. Belessiotis, Microencapsulated dimethyl terephthalate
phase change material for heat transfer fluid performance enhancement, Int. J.
Energy 41 (2016).
[26] S. Benayache, S. Alleg, A. Mebrek, J.J. Sunol, Thermal and microstructural
properties of paraffin/diatomite composite, Vacuum 157 (2018) 136e144.
[27] S. Ramakrishnan, X.M. Wang, J. Sanjayan, Thermal enhancement of paraffin/
hydrophobic expanded perlite granular phase change composite using gra-
phene nanoplatelets, Energy Build. 15 (169) (2018) 206e215.
[28] T. Nomura, C.Y. Zhu, N. Sheng, K. Tabuchi, A. Sagara, T. Akiyama, Shape-sta-
bilized phase change composite by impregnation of octadecane into meso-
porous SiO2, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C 143 (2015) 424e429.
[29] H.Z. Cui, W.C. Tang, Q.H. Qin, F. Xing, W.Y. Liao, H.B. Wen, Development of
structural-functional integrated energy storage concrete with innovative
macro-encapsulated PCM by hollow steel ball, Appl. Energy 185 (2017)
107e118.