Thermal and mechanical performance of gypsum composites containing fly ash cenosphere encapsulated phase change materials

Li, Yucen; Zandifaez, Peyman; Wang, Jialai; Zhou, Hongyu

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.141763

Thermal and mechanical performance of gypsum composites containing fly ash cenosphere encapsulated phase change materials

Journal Article · Wed May 21 20:00:00 EDT 2025 · Construction and Building Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.141763· OSTI ID:3012554

Li, Yucen ^[1]; Zandifaez, Peyman ^[1]; Wang, Jialai ^[2]; Zhou, Hongyu ^[1]

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)

Utilizing phase change materials (PCMs) within construction materials improves the thermal energy storage capabilities in the built environment. Notably, integrating PCMs into drywalls presents a promising avenue to reduce building energy use. However, incorporating PCMs into drywalls poses challenges, particularly reduced mechanical properties and workability limitations as it can adversely affect the hardening and cohesiveness of gypsum composites. To address these challenges, this study explores a novel strategy to incorporate PCMs into gypsum composites through fly ash cenosphere-encapsulated PCM, namely CenoPCM, aiming to enhance the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity over existing commercial counterparts. An experimental program was conducted to study the impact of the inclusion of CenoPCM on the mechanical and thermal performance of gypsum composites, and the results were compared to those of commercially available polymerencapsulated PCM benchmark (Micronal). The findings highlighted that PCM-charged samples exhibited up to 95.90 J/g (CenoPCM) of latent heat with 70 % CenoPCM loading. The results of mechanical tests also showed that CenoPCM outperformed its polymer-encapsulated counterpart, achieving 55 % higher mechanical strength on average. Here, this improvement is attributed to the rigid shell of fly ash cenosphere (FAC) serving as a PCM carrier, providing a skeleton-like structure to gypsum composites for higher load-bearing capacity. Additionally, hotbox tests demonstrated that the CenoPCM-charged wall panels yielded a 20 % higher thermal conductivity and a 22 % increased time lag compared to Micronal PCM-charged panels, indicating its potential to shift the peak load in buildings.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States); University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008677

OSTI ID:: 3012554

Journal Information:: Construction and Building Materials, Journal Name: Construction and Building Materials Vol. 484; ISSN 0950-0618

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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