Thermally Conducting Microcellular Carbon Foams as a Superior Host for Wax‐Based Phase Change Materials

Abstract

Thermally conducting microcellular carbon foams are prepared from sucrose with graphite as a filler using an economical, scalable, and sustainable NaCl particle templating technique. The effect of graphite filler and NaCl template loading on density, porosity, thermal conductivity, and microstructure are carefully investigated. Conducting carbon foams (CCF) exhibit high porosity (76.1 to 93.4%) and adequate compressive strength (0.225 to 14.96 MPa). The high thermal conductivity (0.282 to 5.23 W m À1 K À1 ), interconnected microcellular structure (cell size 2-12 μm), and hydrophobic nature make the foams ideal for hosting wax-based phase change materials for thermal energy storage and management applications. Composites of conducting carbon foam and paraffin wax (PW) are prepared with various wax loadings (50.5 to 82.6 wt%), which exhibit thermal conductivities in the range of 0.65-7.72 W m À1 K À1 . The melting and freezing characteristics and form stability of the composites are also studied. It is established that the microcellular structure is advantageous for easy wax-impregnation and retention during thermal cycling compared to macrocellular (cell size of 600 μm) foams of the similar composition due to the enhanced capillary forces. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study of PW/CCF composites shows the highest melting enthalpy of 110.9 J g À1 .

Multienergy-Triggered Composite Phase-Change Materials Based on Graphite Foams Synthesized from Graphite Extracted from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…The pore size of the GFs was approximately 100 μm, which can be related to the particle size of KCl . It can be seen that as the KCl template agent content increased, the GF supporting material became looser, while the size distribution of the microcells remained unchanged …”

“…With the increasing scarcity of fossil energy sources and environmental degradation, improving the utilization of traditional energy sources and developing green and clean energy sources have become top priorities. − As a sustainable clean energy source, solar energy has the advantages of universality and abundance. Its collection and utilization have attracted the attention of many researchers .…”

Continuous Dual-Scale Interpenetrating Network Carbon Foam–Stearic Acid Composite as a Shape-Stabilized Phase Change Material with a Desirable Synergistic Effect

“…In fact, the composite PCM, prepared using a high-porosity open-cell CF as a support for organic PCMs, can be considered a kind of composite with an interpenetrating network structure. However, as mentioned above, a conventional CF confronts the main problems of low loading capacity and poor interfacial bonding with organic PCMs, 46 which are unfavorable for the formation of an ideal interpenetrating network structure; therefore, the resulting composite PCM often presents unsatisfactory thermal energy storage and encapsulation performances with a poor synergistic effect. For this reason, the development of a CF with suitable pore structures is significant for the fabrication of a composite PCM with an interpenetrating network structure.…”

Lightweight and flexible sensors based on environmental‐friendly poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) composite foams with porous segregated conductive networks

“…[19][20][21] Several approaches have been applied to manufacture the microcellular structure, including template, phase separation, 3D printing and bubbling methods. [22][23][24][25][26] Supercritical fluid foaming technology, as one of the bubbling methods, is considered as a facile and effective strategy to fabricate the porous structure with uniform cell size and large cell density in the polymer matrix. 27,28 Supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO 2 ) has been widely applied in the polymer foaming filed, due to the mild critical condition, good compatibility with polymer matrix, low cost and environmental-friendliness.…”

“…Creating three‐dimensional microcellular structure in the sensor is another promising strategy to improve the sensitivity and durability of the final part with the light weight 19–21 . Several approaches have been applied to manufacture the microcellular structure, including template, phase separation, 3D printing and bubbling methods 22–26 . Supercritical fluid foaming technology, as one of the bubbling methods, is considered as a facile and effective strategy to fabricate the porous structure with uniform cell size and large cell density in the polymer matrix 27,28 .…”