Cold Chain Technologies, LLC

Dimitrios P Bakllas

Richard M Formato

Amrut N Biswal

Gel including a phase-change material and a gelling agent. In one embodiment, the phase-change material may be n-tetradecane, n-hexadecane or mixtures thereof. The gelling agent may be a high molecular weight styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer with a styrene:rubber ratio of about 30:70 to 33:67% by weight. To form the gel, the phase-change material and the gelling agent may be mixed at an elevated temperature relative to room temperature to partially, but not completely, dissolve the gelling agent. The mixture may then be cooled to room temperature. Alternatively, the phase-change material and the gelling agent may be mixed at room temperature, and the mixture may then be heated to form a viscoelastic liquid, which is then cooled to room temperature. The invention is also directed at a method of preparing the gel, a thermal exchange implement including the gel, and a method of preparing the thermal exchange implement.

Gel comprising a phase-change material, method of preparing the gel, thermal exchange implement comprising the gel, and method of preparing the thermal exchange implement

Gel including a phase-change material and a gelling agent. In one embodiment, the phase-change material may be n-tetradecane, and the gelling agent may be a styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer. In particular, the SEBS copolymer may be a high molecular weight SEBS copolymer with a styrene:rubber ratio of about 30:70 to 33:67% by weight. The SEBS copolymer may constitute up to about 10%, by weight, of the gel, preferably less than 6%, by weight, of the gel, with n-tetradecane constituting the remainder. To form the gel, the phase-change material and the gelling agent are mixed together at an elevated temperature relative to room temperature to partially, but not completely, dissolve the gelling agent, i.e., a homogeneous solution is not formed. The mixture is then allowed to cool to room temperature. The invention is also directed at a method of preparing the gel and a thermal exchange implement including the gel.

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Worcester, MA, United States of America

Dimitrios P Bakllas