Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) is recognised as a key technology for the implementation of renewable energy sources in buildings and, therefore, to their contribution to climate change mitigation. Phase change materials are the materials used in latent TES, but they present corrosion to metals when encapsulated in these materials. In this study, four commercial PCMs are tested against three commonly used metals, to evaluate the corrosion of each pair. Results show that stainless steel is resistant to the PCMs tested under the experimental conditions used. Aluminium is recommended to be used with the tested organic PCMs (RT-21 and RT-25), should be used with caution with HS-24P, and it is not recommended with SP-21E. Finally, copper is also recommended with the tested organic PCMs, but it should be used with caution with the inorganic ones.