Cement Based Materials with PCM and Reduced Graphene Oxide for Thermal Insulation for Buildings

Energy demand for heating and cooling represents a large part of building´s (residential and non-residential) energy consumption around the world. Development of thermal insulating construction elements with thermal energy storage and release capacity could be one way of reducing this consumption while maintaining thermal comfort inside the buildings. Using phase change materials (PCMs) as thermal storage/release materials for “porous” cement-based construction elements is a possible solution. However, the relatively low thermal conductivity of the cement matrix could impair the efficient transfer of the heat to the PCM reducing its effectivity. Addition of thermal and electrically conductive nanoparticles such as graphene-based particles could improve enough the thermal and electrical conductivity but maintain a good energy storage capacity. In this study the production of cement pastes with different dosage of PCMs (20% and 40% in volume) and reduced graphene oxide will be described. Furthermore, the characterization of their thermal and electrical conductivity, latent heat and thermal diffusivity will also be shown and discussed.