Heat capacity study of fatty acids as phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Fatty acids are commonly used as phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage due to their high latent heat, non-toxicity, and biocompatibility. However, the thermodynamic properties of fatty acids have not been systematically studied, especially for their heat capacity data over a wide temperature range. This limitation greatly restricts their practical applications in designing and constructing fatty acids based PCMs and corresponding thermal management techniques. Herein, the heat capacities of a series of fatty acids (octanoic acid, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, and octadecanoic acid) have been measured using a combined relaxation, adiabatic, and differential scanning calorimetry techniques over a temperature range from 1.9 K to 380 K. The corresponding thermodynamic functions and phase transition thermodynamic parameters have been calculated based on heat capacity data fitting. Additionally, the thermal stability and thermal conductivity of these fatty acids have also been determined using a thermogravimetric analysis instrument and a thermal constant analyzer, respectively. These obtained thermodynamic properties can provide crucial fundamental information for the study and application of fatty acid PCMs and related thermal energy storage techniques.