ABSTRACT:
The project aims at fabricating by additive manufacturing engineered modules composed of nanocarbon ceramic composites for the containment of Phase Changing Materials (PCM), for the accumulation and release of thermal energy. Chemically modified carbon nanostructures (CNs) with high thermal conductivity will be included as fillers in a ceramic matrix obtained from two different precursors: a water-based aluminosilicate (geopolymer) or a silicone preceramic polymer. CNs will be blended with the preceramic material to obtain inks with proper rheologic features for 3D printing. Direct Ink Writing techniques will afford cellular structures for the containment of PCMs with regular, controlled and variable architecture to facilitate and optimize the heat transport. An ideal application of such modules would be heat or cold storage for efficiency optimization of new generation hybrid climatization plants for domestic buildings. The strongly interdisciplinary team will take advantage of complementary know how. Chemistry will allow to make CNs compatible with preceramic materials and to maximize thermal properties. Processing and additive manufacturing of advanced ceramic materials will allow tuning of the composition and architecture of cellular modules. Heat transfer modeling and characterization will guide the design and optimization of materials and devices. Economic valuation will explore consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for heating/cooling devices using the module developed during the project, providing guidelines for a trade-off between performances and costs. In view of possible future industrialization, a possible scale up of the CNs chemistry will be explored by means of both non-conventional chemistry developed within the team and a collaboration with a local industry.

ATTIVITA'