Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Phase Change Material Composites: Sunlight-Driven, Reversible, Form-Stable Phase Transitions for Solar Thermal Energy Storage

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 23; no. 35; pp. 4354 - 4360
• Main Authors: Wang, Yunming, Tang, Bingtao, Zhang, Shufen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 20.09.2013; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: form-stable transitions; light-driven transitions; phase change materials; single-walled carbon nanotubes; thermal energy storage
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201203728

The development of solar energy conversion materials is critical to the growth of a sustainable energy infrastructure in the coming years. A novel hybrid material based on single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and form‐stable polymer phase change materials (PCMs) is reported. The obtained materials have UV‐vis sunlight harvesting, light‐thermal conversion, thermal energy storage, and form‐stable effects. Judicious application of this efficient photothermal conversion to SWNTs has opened up a rich field of energy materials based on novel SWNT/PCM composits with enhanced performance in energy conversion and storage. Novel single‐walled carbon nanotube/phase change material (SWNT/PCM) composites have UV‐vis sunlight harvesting, light‐thermal conversion, thermal energy storage, and form‐stable effects. Upon UV‐vis light irradiation, the light‐to‐heat conversion and thermal storage efficiency (η) of the obtained SWNT/PCM composites is over 0.84 using the photothermal calculation method.