In this study, a binary eutectic phase change material (PCM) composed of 38 wt% paraffin wax and 62 wt% myristic acid was nano-enhanced by separately incorporating 2 wt% Al₂O₃ and 2 wt% graphene oxide (GO) via hot-melt compounding. The thermal conductivity and molecular structure of the base PCM and nano-enhanced PCMs (NePCMs) were examined using the guarded heat flow method and FT-IR spectroscopy. The GO-enhanced NePCM showed the highest thermal conductivity (0.61 W/mK), followed by the Al₂O₃-enhanced NePCM (0.57 W/mK), both markedly higher than that of the base eutectic PCM. FT-IR results confirmed that nanoparticle incorporation did not alter the chemical structure of the eutectic PCM. DSC analysis showed that the melting temperature decreased by 4.09% and 7.43%, while the latent heat of fusion increased by 2.7% and 12.76% for the Al₂O₃- and GO-enhanced PCMs, respectively. Infrared thermography and thermal module experiments with circular and rectangular fins further demonstrated superior thermal regulation by the GO-enhanced NePCM. Overall, the GO-based NePCM exhibited the best combined thermal conductivity, latent heat enhancement, and thermal management performance, confirming its strong potential for practical thermal management applications.
Kibria et al. (Fri,) studied this question.