Thermochemical heat storage performance of Fe-doped MgO/Mg(OH)2: Experimental and DFT investigation

MgO/Mg(OH)2 thermochemical heat storage system can realize large-scale energy storage by repetitive hydration/dehydration reactions to enhance the stability of solar energy utilization. However, slow interconversion and incomplete reactions caused by agglomeration restrict the cyclic heat storage capability of MgO/Mg(OH)2. In this work, a low-cost efficient Fe-doped MgO was prepared by a simple wet-mixing method and its energy released performance and kinetics in MgO/Mg(OH)2 heat storage progress were examined in a twin fixed-bed reactor and a simultaneous thermal analyzer. Additionally, density functional theory calculations were used to examine the impact of Fe on the mechanisms of MgO/Mg(OH)2 heat storage process. The results shows that when the molar ratio of MgO to Fe is 95:5, the energy released density of Fe-doped MgO is about 400 % higher than that of MgO after 10 heat storage cycles. In preparation process, the existence of Fe leads to the generation of MgFe2O4, which forms layered microstructure with the high specific surface area and pore volume and mitigates agglomeration behavior of MgO. It improves the cyclic stability of MgO and reduces the dehydration temperature of Mg(OH)2, and simultaneously the activation energy of the dehydration stage is reduced by 33.2 %. Fe enhances the interaction of H2O with the MgO surface and promotes the dissociation of H2O on Mg(OH)2 surface. Combined with economic analysis, Fe-doped MgO is a suitable material for MgO/Mg(OH)2 heat storage cycles.