Phase-Changing Microcapsules Incorporated with Black Phosphorus for Efficient Solar Energy Storage

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Developing efficient solar energy storage is crucial for renewable energy integration.
• Phase-changing materials (PCMs) offer high energy storage density.
• Black phosphorus sheets (BPs) are 2D materials with excellent photothermal properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel solar energy storage system.
• To enhance the efficiency of solar energy storage by integrating BPs with PCMs.
• To investigate the photothermal and thermal storage performance of the new composite material.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized black phosphorus sheets (BPs) and modified them with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to create mBPs.
• Encapsulated mBPs and eicosane (a PCM) together into microcapsules (mBPs-MPCM).
• Evaluated the latent heat, thermal reliability, and photothermal characteristics of the mBPs-MPCM composites.

Main Results:

• The mBPs-MPCM composites demonstrated a high latent heat (>180 kJ kg⁻¹).
• The integrated composites exhibited excellent photothermal conversion and thermal reliability.
• Achieved three times higher solar energy storage efficiency compared to surface-modified microcapsules.

Conclusions:

• The novel mBPs-MPCM composites show significant potential for efficient solar energy storage.
• Integrating photothermal materials and PCMs within microcapsules is an effective strategy for high-performance solar energy storage.
• This design concept offers insights for developing advanced solar energy storage materials.