Reprocessable, Photothermal Phase Change Material-Based Hybrid Polymeric Networks for Solar-to-Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

Polymeric photothermal phase change material composite (PPCMC) networks with excellent reprocessability, high latent heat, and intrinsic network stability have the great advantages of solar energy storage and conservation and environmental protection resulting from the covalent crosslinking network structure and long-life inorganic photothermal agents. Herein, the reprocessable PPCMCs were successfully prepared by introducing the reactive diisocyanate-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and multiple amino-functionalized carbon black (CB)that serve as the phase change component and the photothermal curing agent, respectively. The phase change properties, mechanical strength, and photothermal efficiency of PPCMCs can be tuned by the chain length of PEG and the loading content of CB and the catalyst. PPCMCs possess the largest latent heat of 126.7 J/g, the highest photothermal conversion efficiency of 89.0%, superior shape stability even at 140 °C, high thermal stability beyond 300 °C, and reprocessing ability by introducing the catalyst of the transcarbamoylation reaction. Also, the PPCMCs exhibit high thermal reliability after accelerated thermal cycling and reprocessing, featuring nearly consistent chemical and crystalline structures, latent heat, phase change temperature, and photothermal properties. This synthetic strategy provides an alternative to obtain multifunctional PPCMCs due to the enhanced interfacial interaction between inorganic particles and the polymer matrix via covalent linkages.

Multiple H‐Bonding Cross‐Linked Supramolecular Solid–Solid Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage and Management

“…In Table S5, Supporting Information, the TES performance of MHPCM‐10K 95 and MHPCM‐20K 97 is compared with other literatures, and it indicates that the enthalpies of our work are superior than the most reported SSPCMs in the literature. [ 26,33,50–62 ] Figure 3d presents a summary of the tensile stresses and corresponding enthalpy of phase transition for MHPCM in this work, as well as other PCMs reported in the literature. As shown in Figure 3d, our work exhibits a superior tensile stress of 36.9 MPa and a high enthalpy of phase transition of 142.5 J g −1 , which represents the best comprehensive performance compared to other PCMs reported in the literature.…”

Enabling Supramolecular Phase Change Materials with High Latent Heat Ability and Recyclability

“…Nowadays, with the continuous development of a society that uses nonrenewable fossil energy as its main source of energy, the energy crisis and the pollution of the environment stemming from its usage are increasingly pronounced. − It is becoming more and more important to use fossil energy more efficiently and environmentally friendly and to develop other clean and renewable energy sources. , So far, people have developed renewable energy sources alternatives like solar, wind, tidal, and biomass energy sources. − Although they are very environmentally friendly, they all suffer from the problems of poor stability and continuity, which limit their widespread use . As for energy utilization, thermal energy storage technology has been gradually emphasized as a technology that can realize efficient energy conversion and storage. , Thermal energy storage technology mainly utilizes the two ways of phase change energy storage and chemical reaction energy storage to realize the storage of thermal energy. , Among them, organic phase change materials (PCMs) have garnered extensive research and application across various sectors including aerospace, construction, clothing and other fields in recent years because of their advantages such as high energy storage density, small temperature variation in the energy storage process and good long-term stability. − Paraffin, fatty alcohols, and PEG , are the main raw materials used in organic PCMs. Among them, PEG has the advantages of high latent heat, customizable phase change temperature, low subcooling, small volume change during phase change, nontoxicity and environmentally friendly nature, which propels PEG into the forefront of research interest in recent years. − …”