Ionenes as Potential Phase Change Materials with Self-Healing Behavior.

Ionenes are poly(ionic liquids) (PILs) comprising a polymer backbone with ionic groups along the structure. Ionenes as solid-solid phase change materials are a recent research field, and some studies have demonstrated their potential in thermal dissipation into electronic devices. Eight ionenes obtained through Menshutkin reactions were synthesized and characterized. The analysis of the thermal tests allowed understanding of how the thermal properties of the polymers depend on the aliphatic nature of the dihalogenated monomer and the carbon chain length. The TGA studies concluded that the ionenes were thermally stable with T10% above 420 °C. The DSC tests showed that the prepared ionenes presented solid-solid transitions, and no melting temperature was appreciated, which rules out the possibility of solid-liquid transitions. All ionenes were soluble in common polar aprotic solvents. The hydrophilicity of the synthesized ionenes was studied by the contact angle method, and their total surface energy was calculated. Self-healing behavior was preliminarily explored using a selected sample. Our studies show that the prepared ionenes exhibit properties that make them potential candidates for applications as solid-solid phase change materials.

Development of Novel Phase-Change Materials Derived from Methoxy Polyethylene Glycol and Aromatic Acyl Chlorides.

In this research, novel, organic, solid-liquid phase-change materials (PCMs) derived from methoxy polyethylene glycol (MPEG) and aromatic acyl chlorides (ACs) were prepared through a condensation reaction. The MPEGs were used as phase-change functional chains with different molecular weights (350, 550, 750, 2000, and 5000 g/mol). The aromatic ACs, terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) and isophthaloyl chloride (IPC), were employed as bulky linker cores. Solubility tests demonstrated that this family of PCMs is soluble in protic polar solvents such as H2O and MeOH, and insoluble in nonpolar solvents such as n-hexane. Fourier-ransform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR UATR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H, 13C, DEPT 135°, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC NMR) were used to confirm the bonding of MPEG chains to ACs. The crystalline morphology of the synthesized materials was examined using polarized optical microscopy (POM), revealing the formation of spherulites with Maltese-cross-extinction patterns. Furthermore, it was confirmed that PCMs with higher molecular weights were crystalline at room temperature and exhibited an increased average spherulite size compared to their precursors. Thermal stability tests conducted through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated decomposition temperatures close to 400 °C for all PCMs. The phase-change properties were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), revealing that the novel PCMs melted and crystallized between -23.7 and 60.2 °C and -39.9 and 45.9 °C, respectively. Moreover, the heat absorbed and released by the PCMs ranged from 57.9 to 198.8 J/g and 48.6 to 195.6 J/g, respectively. Additionally, the PCMs exhibited thermal stability after undergoing thermal cycles of melting-crystallization, indicating that energy absorption and release occurred at nearly constant temperatures. This study presents a new family of high-performance organic PCMs and demonstrates that the orientation of substituent groups in the phenylene ring influences supercooling, transition temperatures, and thermal energy storage capacity depending on the MPEG molecular weight.