Supercooling and phase separation of inorganic salt hydrates as PCMs

Inorganic salt hydrates as a new type of clean and renewable energy storage materials are widely used in a variety of fields due to their high volumetric latent storage density. However, the supercooling and phase separation effects limit their applications. In this paper, the characteristics of inorganic salt hydrates as PCMs were introduced, and the supercooling and phase separation for inorganic salt hydrates as PCMs were summarized in details. Then, some new approaches of nucleating and thickening agents to overcome the supercooling and phase separation were presented. Finally, the prospects and new trends of salt hydrates as PCMs in the future were also demonstrated.