Nucleation and Supercooling Mitigation in Fatty Alcohol Phase Change Material Emulsions for Heat Transport and Storage.

Organic phase change slurries (PCS) exhibit significant supercooling in small particles, which diminishes their advantages over sensible heat storage systems by reducing energy efficiency and reliability. While the mechanisms of supercooling in alkanes have been extensively studied, investigations of emulsions containing fatty alcohols are limited. This study examines the impact of nucleating agents on reducing supercooling in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions of 1-docosanol, a fatty alcohol used as a phase change material (PCM).