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Hydrophobic-Hydrophilic Double-Layered Shells for Paraffin-Based Heat Storage Microcapsules.

Nagino Mori¹, Soshi Kanaji¹, Nozomu Suzuki¹

¹Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|July 6, 2026

Summary

Researchers developed novel double-layer polymer capsules for thermal energy storage. The hydrophilic inner layer significantly improved hexadecane

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Synthesis and Characterization of Multi-Modal Phase-Change Porphyrin Droplets

Synthesis and Characterization of Multi-Modal Phase-Change Porphyrin Droplets

Published on: October 15, 2021

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Polymer Chemistry
Energy Storage

Background:

Paraffin-based phase change materials (PCMs) like hexadecane (HD) are crucial for thermal energy storage.
Confining HD within hydrophobic polymer shells often leads to reduced latent heat and significant supercooling, hindering performance.
Hydrophobic interactions at the interface restrict the crystallization of confined HD.

Purpose of the Study:

To design and synthesize hydrophobic-hydrophilic double-layer polymer capsules for enhanced thermal energy storage.
To overcome the limitations of reduced latent heat and supercooling in confined PCMs.
To investigate the effect of a hydrophilic inner layer on the phase-change behavior of encapsulated HD.

Main Methods:

A one-pot suspension polymerization strategy was employed to create double-layer capsules.
Utilized differences in monomer reactivity ratios to form a poly(divinylbenzene) (PDVB)-rich outer shell and a vinyl acetate (VAc) or vinyl butyrate (VBu)-rich inner layer.
Subsequent hydrolysis converted the inner layer to hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA).

Main Results:

HD encapsulated in purely hydrophobic PDVB capsules showed reduced latent heat and significant supercooling.
The novel double-layer capsules with a hydrophilic PVA inner layer exhibited markedly improved thermal properties.
Enthalpy of fusion increased to 229 J g^-1-HD (nearly identical to pure HD), and supercooling decreased to 2.2 °C.

Conclusions:

The hydrophilic inner layer effectively restores bulk-like phase-change behavior of confined HD.
The double-layer capsule design minimizes latent heat loss and supercooling in polymer-encapsulated PCMs.
This interfacial design strategy is valuable for developing advanced phase change materials for thermal energy storage applications.