Graphene Aerogel-Supported Phase-Change Material for Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting: Structural Modification and Form Stability Analysis

3D porous graphene aerogel (GA) has a capability to infiltrate plenty of phase-change materials (PCM) into the internal pore. Since carbon-based materials can offer excellent solar light absorption and conversion of thermal energy, they are widely used as container-like supporting materials. In general, the GA shows a volume shrinkage problem due to the capillary force during the infiltration process, thus causing a loss in pore volume, that is, PCM weight loss. The PCM amount is proportional to both the absorbed and released thermal energies. Herein, cysteamine is introduced to bind GA. The PCM composite can reduce the volume shrinkage and have an excellent form stability even under the external force. Two kinds of PCMs are connected to a pyroelectric electrode to generate electrical energy. In addition, finite-element method estimates the temperature profile and electrical peaks to confirm experimental results.

Automated summary

3D porous graphene aerogel has the ability to infiltrate a large amount of phase-change materials into its internal pores. By introducing cysteamine to bind the graphene aerogel, the volume shrinkage problem during infiltration can be reduced and the composite exhibits excellent form stability. The composite can generate electrical energy when connected to a pyroelectric electrode. The finite-element method is used to confirm the experimental results by estimating the temperature profile and electrical peaks.