Preparation of divinylbenzene copolymer particles with encapsulated hexadecane for heat storage application

From the viewpoint of heat storage application, encapsulation of n-hexadecane (HD) was carried out by microsuspension copolymerizations of divinylbenzene (DVB) and acrylic monomers (butyl acrylate, BA; ethyl acrylate, EA) utilizing the self-assembling of phase-separated polymer (SaPSeP) method proposed by the authors. The heat of solidification (H _s) of encapsulated HD in the micron-sized, cross-linked particles was determined by the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). H _s of the encapsulated HD in poly(DVB) particles was much lower than that of pure HD, but it was increased with BA or EA content copolymerized up to that of pure HD. Such an influence of encapsulation on the H _s was discussed. Part CCIIIC of the series “Studies on suspension and emulsion”.