Exploring the influence of MXene and graphene oxide in eutectic phase change microcapsules for enhanced temperature management of the satellite electronic board

The objective of this study is to improve the thermo-physical properties of phase change materials (PCMs) by microencapsulating eutectic fatty acids within a melamine-formaldehyde shell and incorporating 2D materials, specifically graphene oxide (GO) and MXene (Ti₃C₂Tx). Examinations of morphology reveal that the synthesized microencapsulated PCMs (MPCMs) have a spherical configuration with a distinct core-shell structure, averaging 3.5–5 μm in size. Notably, MPCM-GO and MPCM-MXene exhibit encapsulation efficiencies of 70.64 % and 71.08 %, respectively. It is important to note that MPCM-GO and MPCM-MXene exhibit enhanced stability after 300 heating/cooling cycles compared to counterparts without these 2D materials. Moreover, the addition of GO and MXene to MPCM results in a noteworthy enhancement of thermal conductivity. The maximum improvement in thermal conductivity was 52.17 % for MPCM-MXene at a weight percentage of 4 %. When used for thermal management of an electronic board operating within a critical temperature range of 55 °C and a power range of 4–10 W, the synthesized GO and MXene MPCMs exhibit delayed attainment of critical temperature, ranging from 4.5 to 8 min, depending on the weight percentage of GO and MXene. These results suggest that MPCMs incorporating 2D materials hold promise for diverse thermal applications, including regulating the temperature of electronic devices, buildings, and intelligent textiles.