Low density hemp shive particleboards for latent thermal energy storage performance

Over the past few decades, climate change and the search for renewable energy sources have become hot topics within the research community. About 30% of the world's energy consumption is in the heating and cooling sector of residential buildings. Such materials can reduce the temperature variations, leading to an improvement in human comfort and decreasing at the same time the energy consumption of buildings. This paper assesses the integration of a microencapsulated phase change material (PCMs) with organic composite phase change as the core material and melamine-formaldehyde as the shell in hemp shive intended for building indoor wallboard. Paraffin waxes are cost-effective and have moderate thermal energy storage density but low thermal conductivity and, hence, require large surface area. Commercial manufactured organic PCM-S28 with a 25-29°C melting point received from MikroCaps Ltd. (Slovenia) has been used. The experimental boards were made using cold pressing technology and with 10% Kleiberit Urea Formaldehyde resin (UF) glue as a binding agent. The experimental boards were made 25 mm thick with a density of 310 ± 20 kg/m3 that qualify them as low-density boards. By adding 5% nanocapsules during the board manufacturing process, the heat capacity is increased by 28%.