Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2025

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation
Published on: February 5, 2020
Tailorable Thermal Conduction and Thermal Energy Storage Behaviors in 3D Printed Hierarchical Cellular
Lin Qiu1, Xin Wang1, Guangpeng Feng1
1School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
Abstract:
Cellular structures assembled by periodic base cells (PBC) are important carriers of phase change materials (PCMs) in practical applications. The configuration of the PBC and its topology significantly influence the thermal conduction of cellular structures and the thermal storage properties of PCMs. This study develops a framework for multiscale topology optimization of cellular structures, which can first determine the optimal configuration for PBCs and then their optimal density distribution. The optimized topology structure is tree-like, as shown by the hierarchical pores formed by PBCs with varying densities. This hierarchical cellular structure successfully reduces the maximum temperature by 22%, improves the temperature uniformity by 9%, and shortens the melting time by 8% compared to the unoptimized structure. Cellular structures with different topology structures are selective-laser-melting 3D-printed to encapsulate paraffin wax, which experimentally validates that the hierarchical structure can shorten the melting time by 10.4% compared to a uniform structure, even if their porosity is the same. This progress breaks through the conventional concept that the effective thermal conductivity of the cellular structure cannot be modulated once its porosity is fixed and opens up a new idea to improve the melting behavior of PCMs.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Changes
A substance melts or freezes at a temperature called its melting point and boils or condenses at its boiling point. These temperatures depend on pressure. High pressure favors the denser form of the substance, so typically, high pressure...
Heating and Cooling Curves
For instance, the addition of heat raises the temperature of a solid; the amount of heat absorbed depends on the heat capacity of the solid (q = mcsolidΔT). According to thermochemistry, the relation between the amount of heat absorbed or released by a substance, q, and its...
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Phase Transitions
Mechanism of heat transfer
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing

