Thermal properties and applications of microencapsulated PCM for thermal energy storage: A review

•Preparation methods of microencapsulated phase change materials were summarized.•Thermal properties of microencapsulated phase change materials were presented and discussed.•Applications of microencapsulated phase change materials for thermal storage were analyzed. Phase change materials (PCM) are characterized by storing a large amount of thermal energy while changing from one phase to another phase (normally solid–liquid states) at a certain temperature. The application of PCM devotes to elevate the global efforts to conserve energy with regard to fast depleting fossil fuels. The selection of supporting materials and encapsulation techniques has crucial effect on the use of the thermal energy released by PCM. The encapsulation method of PCM is an approach to alleviate leakage, phase separation and volume change problems. Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) are one of the most popular techniques to enhance the efficiency in use of resources for thermal energy storage. This work attempts to summarize preparation methods and thermal properties of the MPCM, which helps to better understand the composition and working mechanism of the MPCM. Moreover, the MPCM provide enormous potential to meet the growing demands for applications of cooling and heating in buildings, textiles and MPCM slurry.