Phase Change Materials(PCMs)

NIDHI AGRAWAL

Agrawal remembers going into a room full of venture capitalists back in 2012. She was there to convince them that something as intricate and as niche as phase change materials (PCMs) could have a wide range of industrial applications at an affordable price.

PCMs are materials primarily made up of fatty acids and fatty acid esters that can store or release energy as per external requirements. They do so by changing phase from liquid to solid when releasing energy and solid to liquid when absorbing energy.

The investors in the room pored over every detail of the research work she had done with her team in the last two years. A researcher and innovator, she donned an entrepreneur’s hat because she wanted to find a way for her research work to create an actual impact on the industry.

Agrawal, who has been working with Gurgaon-based Pluss Advanced Technologies Pvt. Ltd since 2010, was successful in convincing investors. The company was able to raise funds from Tata Capital Innovation Fund.

After she completed her BSc in chemistry and MSc and MPhil in organic chemistry, she worked at the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Agrawal has developed over 10 commercial PCMs for the first time in India. She also led the development of form stable PCMs, which are based on organic materials added with polymers. Form stable PCMs surpass conventional PCMs when it comes to storing energy as they do not leak even if the material’s encapsulation is broken. This unique property enables its usage in applications which otherwise would not have been possible.

“The work we do is research-intensive and takes time, unlike other start-ups, which start generating returns early on," said Agrawal.

“Initially it was really challenging, but over a period time, we strategized the process. We decided to go for two commercial PCM products per year."

Agrawal has been involved in envisaging, developing and manufacturing the products as well as in marketing. Some applications that have already been rolled out by the company include Lava Lunch Boxes, a microwavable container that ensures that food remains warm for up to four hours, Thermal Jacket and Miracradle, a medical device which helps maintain a newborn’s temperature at 33 degrees Celsius for 72 hours in case of neonatal asphyxia, resulting from deprivation of oxygen to a newborn.

But most notable is her work on developing thermally responsive building materials such as FS-PCM based tiles that can lower the energy requirements (cooling or heating) of buildings substantially. They can help maintain the temperature of the building at between 25-30 degree C.

It is a joint project with US department of energy and India’s department of science and technology. The research is being led by the Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy, India, and Pluss is a project partner.

“The PCM-based tiles can save up to 20% of energy in a building. We are in the process of validating our product," she said. The result will be demonstrated in Denmark at Clima 2016, a conference on heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, in May.