Affiliation:
1. Thermochemistry Laboratory Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Dalian Technology Innovation Center for Energy Materials Thermodynamics Liaoning Province Key Laboratory of Thermochemistry for Energy Materials Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy Dalian 116023 P. R. China
2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractSolar thermal fuels (STFs) have been particularly concerned as sustainable future energy due to their impressive ability to store solar energy in chemical bonds and controllably release thermal energy. However, currently studied STFs mainly focus on molecule‐based materials with high photochemical activity, toxicity, and compromised features, which greatly restricts their applications in practical scenarios of solar energy utilization. Herein, we present a novel erythritol‐based composite phase change material (PCM) as a new type of STFs with an outstanding capability to store solar energy as latent heat in its stable supercooling state and release thermal energy as needed. This composite PCM with stored thermal energy can be maintained stably at room temperature and subsequently release latent heat as high as 224.9 J/g during the crystallization process triggered by thermal stimuli. Remarkably, solar energy can be converted into latent heat stored in the composite PCM over months. Through mechanical stimulations, the released latent heat can increase the temperature of the composite up to 91 °C. This work presents a new concept of using spatiotemporal storage and release of latent heat in PCMs for solar energy utilization, making it a potential candidate as STFs for developing future clean energy techniques.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Key Research and Development Program of China