Dynamic PCM strategies with nano-enhanced composites for optimal thermal energy storage and management

We demonstrated the role of dynamic phase change materials (dynamic PCM) and nanofiller characteristics in the effective improvement of thermal energy storage (TES) and management performance. This is the very first study where nano-enhanced PCMs have been tested in a dynPCM configuration and compared the heat storage potential with respect to pristine PCM. We investigated the influence of nanofiller characteristics on the effective thermophysical properties of composite PCMs. To this end, we report a remarkable enhancement in thermal conductivity (appx. 76 %) in lauric acid-based composite PCMs loaded with 4 wt. % graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and carbon black (CBNP) concentrations. Those improvements are known to be attributed to the ability of nanofillers to establish efficient heat transfer by percolating network structures. We illustrated dynPCM is an effective approach to control the melt-front thickness and thus interface thermal resistance, which significantly improves power density for the latent TES system, and may benefit from the presence of PCM nanocomposites. Recently, PCMs have also shown promising potential for direct solar energy harvesting. Notably, GNP-based composite PCMs can be used for superior solar thermoelectric performance (enhanced output voltage appx. 36 %) compared to pristine PCMs, resulting from the synergistic effects of improved heat conduction and photothermal conversion. This work presents robust experimental findings highlighting the potential of nanocomposite PCMs and dynPCM in advancing TES and solar energy harvesting technologies.