Fabrication of form stable NaCl-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> composite for thermal energy storage by cold sintering process

doi:10.1007/s11705-019-1823-2

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2019, Vol. 13

Issue (4) : 727-735 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1823-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Fabrication of form stable NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite for thermal energy storage by cold sintering process

Bilyaminu Suleiman, Qinghua Yu, Yulong Ding, Yongliang Li(

)

Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

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Abstract

A form stable NaCl-Al₂O₃ (50-50 wt-%) composite material for high temperature thermal energy storage was fabricated by cold sintering process, a process recently applied to the densification of ceramics at low temperature ˂ 300°C under uniaxial pressure in the presence of small amount of transient liquid. The fabricated composite achieved as high as 98.65% of the theoretical density. The NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite also retained the chloride salt without leakage after 30 heating-cooling cycles between 750°C–850°C together with a holding period of 24 h at 850°C. X-ray diffraction measurements indicated congruent solubility of the alumina in chloride salt, excellent compatibility of NaCl with Al₂O₃, and chemical stability at high temperature. Structural analysis by scanning electron microscope also showed limited grain growth, high density, uniform NaCl distribution and clear faceted composite structure without inter-diffusion. The latent heat storage density of 252.5 J/g was obtained from simultaneous thermal analysis. Fracture strength test showed high sintered strength around 5 GPa after 50 min. The composite was found to have fair mass losses due to volatilization. Overall, cold sintering process has the potential to be an efficient, safe and cost-effective strategy for the fabrication of high temperature thermal energy storage materials.

Keywords cold sintering process composite fabrication thermal energy storage phase change materials

Corresponding Author(s): Yongliang Li

Just Accepted Date: 17 June 2019 Online First Date: 26 July 2019 Issue Date: 04 December 2019

Cite this article:

Bilyaminu Suleiman,Qinghua Yu,Yulong Ding, et al. Fabrication of form stable NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite for thermal energy storage by cold sintering process[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2019, 13(4): 727-735.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-019-1823-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2019/V13/I4/727

Fig.1 Relative density variation as a function of sintering pressure of cold sintered NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite at 120°C and with a holding time of 50 min.

Fig.2 Relative density variation as a function of temperature of cold sintered NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite at 400 MPa with a holding time of 50 min.

Fig.3 Fractured surface SEM images of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite cold sintered (a) at 120°C, 200 MPa and 50 min, (b) at 140°C, 400 MPa and 50 min.

Fig.4 Cold sintered NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite average particle size analysis: (a) stitched and original scaled SEM image stack, and (b) average particle size distribution of sintered NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite.

Fig.5 XRD Pattern of pure powders and NaCl-Al₂O₃ composites before and after thermal cycling: (a) NaCl, (b) Al₂O₃, (c) NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite before thermal cycling, (d) NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite after thermal cycling.

Fig.6 STA (a) melting and (b) solidification segment curves of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite material fabricated at 140°C, 400 MPa with a holding time of 50 min.

Fig.7 Pure NaCl and NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite volatilization ratio at different temperatures.

Fig.8 Microstructure and pellet morphology of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite fabricated at 140°C with holding time of 50 min: (a) microstructure before thermal cycling, (b) microstructure after thermal cycling, and (c) pellet morphology before and after thermal cycling.

Fig.9 Fractured surface SEM images of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite fabricated at 140°C with a holding time of 50 min before and after thermal cycling under a sintering pressure of: (a) 200 MPa, (b) 300 MPa, and (c) 400 MPa.

Fig.10 SEM-EDS diagram of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite fabricated at 140°C, 400 MPa with a holding time of 50 min: (a) before thermal cycling, (b) after thermal cycling.

Fig.11 (a) Relative density variation of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite as a function of holding time, (b) Sintered strength variation of NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite as a function of holding time, and (c) Logarithm of sintered NaCl-Al₂O₃ composite strength as a function of logarithm of fractional density variation.

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