Hierarchical 3D Reduced Graphene Porous-Carbon-Based PCMs for Superior Thermal Energy Storage Performance

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Shape-stabilized phase change materials (ss-PCMs) are crucial for thermal energy storage.
• Key parameters for ss-PCMs are phase change enthalpy and thermal conductivity.
• Improving both parameters simultaneously presents a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize a novel ss-PCM with enhanced phase change enthalpy and thermal conductivity.
• To utilize a hierarchical 3D reduced graphene porous carbon support for PCMs.
• To investigate the structure-property relationships of the synthesized composite materials.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of ss-PCMs using a graphene oxide@metal-organic framework (GO@MOF) template.
• Carbonization of the GO@MOF template to form hierarchical 3D porous carbon and reduced graphene (rGO).
• Encapsulation of phase change materials (PCMs) within the porous carbon structure.

Main Results:

• The synthesized material exhibits a hierarchical 3D porous carbon structure with high porosity and surface area.
• The composite demonstrated significantly improved thermal conductivity (0.60 ± 0.02 W m^-1 K^-1, a 27.7% increase).
• A large phase change latent heat of 168.7 J g^-1 (an 18.5% increase) was achieved, along with good durability.

Conclusions:

• The hierarchical 3D rGO@MOF-5-C support effectively enhances both thermal conductivity and phase change enthalpy of ss-PCMs.
• The porous carbon structure stabilizes PCMs via capillary forces and surface tension.
• The developed ss-PCMs show promising potential for advanced thermal energy storage applications.