Network Structural CNTs Penetrate Porous Carbon Support for Phase-Change Materials with Enhanced Electro-Thermal Performance

Electro-thermal phase-change materials (PCMs) enable continuous operation of heating-related processes, which is urgently required for modern thermal-management devices. Driven by the unmet needs to develop promising electro-thermal PCMs with low operation voltage and high electro-thermal storage efficiency simultaneously, unique ZIF@MOF-derived carbon-nanotube (CNT)-penetrated porous carbon supports for electro-thermal PCMs are introduced. The network structure of the support decreases the resistivity of the composite and ensures a low operation voltage. Furthermore, abundant CNT cores in porous carbon shells facilitate interfacial interaction between the PCMs and the support and realize a rapid heat transformation. It is noted that low thermal conductive porous carbon shells prevent convective heat dissipation at the CNT-air interface to a great degree which leads to enhanced electro-thermal storage efficiency. Consequently, the obtained electro-thermal PCMs exhibit a low operation voltage of 1.1 V and a record-high electro-thermal storage efficiency of 94.5%, which shows great potential in thermal management of electronic devices.