Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials for Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

Thermal energy storage is a key technology in order to optimize the performance of industrial systems such as concentrating solar power plants and heat insulation in buildings. This technology can be combined with the development of new materials with enhanced thermal properties thanks to the addition of nanoparticles to a conventional material. The new materials, generally referred to as nanocomposites and nanofluids , are produced by specific procedures in order to ensure their stability over time. The main results that have been published on the enhancement of thermal properties and energy storage through sensible heat storage and phase change materials are summarized.

Effect of titania‐silver nanocomposite particle concentration and thermal cycling on characteristics of sodium dodecyl sulfate added paraffin wax thermal energy storage material

“…Whereas the dispersion of nanoparticles into base phase change material has proved as a potential method to enhance the LHESS performance without affecting its total system weight 22 . Adaptation of nanotechnology and utilization of nanomaterials in thermal energy storage systems can improve thermal properties of the base PCM 23 . A new approach has been proposed to produce efficient and stable supported metal based nanocatalysts 24 .…”

Influence of nanoparticle morphology and its dispersion ability regarding thermal properties of water used as phase change material

“…Most NePCM studies have used water, etilenglicol, paraffin wax, and cyclohexane as the base PCM [13,14], most of them for cold storage. Different types of nanoparticles have been used including carbon-based nanostructures (carbon nanofibres, graphite nanoplatelets, singlewalled nanotubes, and multiwalled nanotubes, graphne), oxide-based nanoparticles (Al2O3, MgO, TiO2, and CuO), and metals (Cu, Al, and Ag) [13,[15][16][17].…”