Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials
Thermal energy storage offers enormous potential for a wide range of energy technologies. Phase-change materials offer state-of-the-art thermal storage due to high latent heat. However, spontaneous heat loss from thermally charged phase-change materials to cooler surroundings occurs due to the absen...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112714 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-2359 |
| _version_ | 1811074470138347520 |
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| author | Han, Grace Li, Huashan Grossman, Jeffrey C. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Han, Grace Li, Huashan Grossman, Jeffrey C. |
| author_sort | Han, Grace |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thermal energy storage offers enormous potential for a wide range of energy technologies. Phase-change materials offer state-of-the-art thermal storage due to high latent heat. However, spontaneous heat loss from thermally charged phase-change materials to cooler surroundings occurs due to the absence of a significant energy barrier for the liquid-solid transition. This prevents control over the thermal storage, and developing effective methods to address this problem has remained an elusive goal. Herein, we report a combination of photo-switching dopants and organic phase-change materials as a way to introduce an activation energy barrier for phase-change materials solidification and to conserve thermal energy in the materials, allowing them to be triggered optically to release their stored latent heat. This approach enables the retention of thermal energy (about 200 J g⁻¹) in the materials for at least 10 h at temperatures lower than the original crystallization point, unlocking opportunities for portable thermal energy storage systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:49:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/112714 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:49:56Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1127142022-09-26T14:00:37Z Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials Han, Grace Li, Huashan Grossman, Jeffrey C. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Han, Grace Li, Huashan Grossman, Jeffrey C. Thermal energy storage offers enormous potential for a wide range of energy technologies. Phase-change materials offer state-of-the-art thermal storage due to high latent heat. However, spontaneous heat loss from thermally charged phase-change materials to cooler surroundings occurs due to the absence of a significant energy barrier for the liquid-solid transition. This prevents control over the thermal storage, and developing effective methods to address this problem has remained an elusive goal. Herein, we report a combination of photo-switching dopants and organic phase-change materials as a way to introduce an activation energy barrier for phase-change materials solidification and to conserve thermal energy in the materials, allowing them to be triggered optically to release their stored latent heat. This approach enables the retention of thermal energy (about 200 J g⁻¹) in the materials for at least 10 h at temperatures lower than the original crystallization point, unlocking opportunities for portable thermal energy storage systems. 2017-12-12T16:26:58Z 2017-12-12T16:26:58Z 2017-11 2017-06 2017-12-11T19:19:56Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2041-1723 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112714 Han, Grace G. D. et al. “Optically-Controlled Long-Term Storage and Release of Thermal Energy in Phase-Change Materials.” Nature Communications 8, 1 (November 2017): 1446 © 2017 The Author(s) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-2359 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01608-y Nature Communications Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Nature |
| spellingShingle | Han, Grace Li, Huashan Grossman, Jeffrey C. Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title | Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title_full | Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title_fullStr | Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title_short | Optically-controlled long-term storage and release of thermal energy in phase-change materials |
| title_sort | optically controlled long term storage and release of thermal energy in phase change materials |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112714 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-2359 |
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