Preparation and Performance of Ternary Composite Phase Change Materials Based on Maltitol Aqueous Solution for Fresh Food Cold Chain Packaging

LIANG Wei; WANG Xiulin; LIU Bowen; XU Jiawei

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.17.013

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (17) : 120-125. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.17.013

Preparation and Performance of Ternary Composite Phase Change Materials Based on Maltitol Aqueous Solution for Fresh Food Cold Chain Packaging

LIANG Wei, WANG Xiulin^*, LIU Bowen, XU Jiawei

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Abstract

In response to the energy conservation and emission reduction demands of the cold chain logistics industry, the work aims to develop a ternary composite phase change material (PCM) suitable for the fresh food cold chain temperature range (1-3 ℃), addressing the core issue that traditional low-temperature PCMs generally struggle to balance high latent heat, high thermal conductivity, and high stability. With a 0.7% maltitol aqueous solution as the phase change base material, 1.5% guar gum was added to inhibit phase separation, and 1.0% expanded graphite (EG) was incorporated to construct a thermal conduction and nucleation network. The thermal physical properties, cycling stability, and anti-corrosion characteristics of the material were systematically characterized. The results showed that the ternary synergistic modification mechanism significantly improved the system performance. The phase change temperature of the material was 1.9 ℃, the latent heat was 322.2 kJ/kg, and the thermal conductivity increased to 0.950 4 W/(m·K). After 50 thermal cycles, there was no layering or leakage, and the latent heat change rate was only 0.56%, with a supercooling degree of less than 0.3 ℃. This material combines low cost, non-corrosiveness, and high cold storage efficiency, providing a solid material foundation and design paradigm for the large-scale application of water-based low-temperature PCMs in fresh food cold chain packaging scenarios.

Key words

fresh food cold chain packaging / low-temperature phase change materials / maltitol aqueous solution / thermophysical properties / synergistic modification

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LIANG Wei, WANG Xiulin, LIU Bowen, XU Jiawei. Preparation and Performance of Ternary Composite Phase Change Materials Based on Maltitol Aqueous Solution for Fresh Food Cold Chain Packaging[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2026, 47(17): 120-125 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.17.013

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