Evaluation of the influence of the monomer (methyl methacrylate) / wax (cetyl palmitate) and process methodology on the preparation of nanocapsules containing phase change material via emulsion polymerization

ABSTRACT In this work, nanocapsules containing Phase Change Material (PCM) were produced by means of the encapsulation process via emulsion polymerization, using the cetyl palmitate wax as encapsulated material and the methyl methacrylate monomer as encapsulant, through two different process methodologies. The wax / monomer mass ratio was also evaluated in the production of the nanocapsules. The samples were submitted to characterizations, with the objective of evaluating the stability and physical integrity of the nanocapsules after drying in the stove, their thermal behavior (DSC), their morphological aspects (SEM), average particle size, solids content and cyclic operational potential. Analyzing the obtained results, it was observed that both the production process methodology and the variation of the wax / monomer ratio directly influenced the formation of the nanocapsules and the average particle size, and the samples produced through Method II presented better results regarding formation of the nanocapsules with particle size of the order of 200 nm, with high wax / monomer ratio and stable to cyclic temperature processes.