Abstract
A phase-change material (PCM) is a material that has the ability to delay heat transfer by absorbing heat from its environment or releasing heat to its environment while its phase changes from solid to liquid or liquid to solid at a specific temperature. As it is applied, it can contribute to environmental conservation such as energy savings and carbon dioxide emission reduction. In order for a PCM to store and release heat, the volume change during its phase transition should be large, and thus a phase transition space is required. When a PCM is used as a polymer additive, it is confined within the polymer, and there is no phase transition space; thus, its ability to absorb and release heat is significantly reduced. Therefore, in this study, porous silica was used to provide EVA/PCM compounds with sufficient space for their phase transition, and to improve the compatibility between the EVA and PCM, modified silica is used: surface-modified 5 wt% silica with 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane. The compound was prepared and compared with the silica compound. The presence or absence of the modified silica surface modification was confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, the heat capacity of the compound was evaluated based on a differential scanning calorimetry analysis, and its mechanical strength and morphology were determined using scanning electron microscopy.