Phase Change Materials for Electro-Thermal Conversion and Storage: From Fundamental Understanding to Engineering Design

Xiao Chen; Zhaodi Tang; Hongyi Gao; Siyuan Chen; Ge Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101208

Phase Change Materials for Electro-Thermal Conversion and Storage: From Fundamental Understanding to Engineering Design

iScience. 2020 Jun 26;23(6):101208. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101208. Epub 2020 May 28.

Authors

Xiao Chen¹, Zhaodi Tang², Hongyi Gao², Siyuan Chen², Ge Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Advanced Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Function Materials for Molecule & Structure Construction, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China.
³ Institute of Advanced Materials, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Function Materials for Molecule & Structure Construction, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Advanced functional electro-thermal conversion phase change materials (PCMs) can efficiently manage the energy conversion from electrical energy to thermal energy, thereby playing a significant role in sustainable energy utilization. Considering the inherent insulating properties of pristine PCMs, electrically conductive supporting materials are widely used to encapsulate PCMs to prepare composite PCMs for electro-thermal conversion and storage. Herein, we comprehensively review the recent advances in different electro-thermal conversion PCMs, mainly including carbon-based PCMs (carbon nanotubes [CNTs], graphene, biomass-derived carbon, graphite, highly graphitized carbon, and metal organic frameworks [MOFs]-derived carbon) and MXene-based PCMs. This review aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the electrothermal conversion mechanism and the relationships between structure design (random and array-oriented structure or single and hybrid supporting materials) and electrothermal properties, thereby contributing profound theoretical and experimental bases for the construction of high-performance electro-thermal conversion PCMs. Finally, we highlight the current challenges and future prospects.

Keywords: Energy Materials; Inorganic Materials; Materials Chemistry.

Publication types

Review