Oxidation Resistance and Plating Encapsulation of Cu-Based Alloys as Phase Change Materials for High-Temperature Heat Storage

Cu-based alloys have been regarded as one of the most promising phase change materials (PCMs) in industrial waste heat recovery and solar thermal electric generation. In this paper, the oxidation behavior and the containment of liquid Cu were investigated. It was found that with the small addition of aluminum, the oxidation resistance of Cu-based PCMs was greatly enhanced. Notably, its latent heat density remained high. The containment of PCMs was achieved by depositing a Ni-base exterior coating on Cu spheres through barrel plating, rack plating and electroless plating processes. The deposition rates, surface topography, and the crystallography of the coatings depended largely on the plating process. The cyclic thermal was tested at last.