Polyurethane template-based erythritol/graphite foam composite phase change materials with enhanced thermal conductivity and solar-thermal energy conversion efficiency

In this paper, we report a kind of composite phase change materials (PCMs) fabricated by the vacuum impregnation method in which ER functions as the filter and graphite foams (GFs) serve as the supporting framework, which is fabricated from polyurethane (PU) foam. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) serve as modifiers. Compared with pure ER, the ER/Us show an excellent performance improvement; the resulting supercooling degree was reduced by similar to 59 degrees C and thermal conductivity was improved to 56.93 W m(-1) K-1, more than 86-folds that of pure ER, resulting in a tremendous latent heat-releasing percentage enhancement of 77.09%. This demonstrates that such ER/Us composites can be used for efficient solar-thermal energy conversion, and have a low supercooling degree, good leakage resistance, and high thermal conductivity, mitigating the severe issues of ER and presenting a new strategy for enhancing the solar energy storage performance.

Automated summary

This paper reports the fabrication of a composite phase change material (PCMs) for efficient solar-thermal energy conversion. The material has a low supercooling degree, good leakage resistance, and high thermal conductivity, which can enhance the solar energy storage performance.