Polyethylene glycol—based functional composite phase change materials with excellent electrical and thermal conductivities

International Journal of Energy ResearchVolume 45, Issue 5 p. 7675-7688 RESEARCH ARTICLE Polyethylene glycol—based functional composite phase change materials with excellent electrical and thermal conductivities Qinrong Sun, Qinrong Sun School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. China School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorNan Zhang, Nan Zhang orcid.org/0000-0002-6474-5031 School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorXiaoping Yu, Xiaoping Yu School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorFali Ju, Fali Ju School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorImre Miklós Szilágyi, Imre Miklós Szilágyi orcid.org/0000-0002-5938-8543 Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, HungarySearch for more papers by this authorYanping Yuan, Corresponding Author Yanping Yuan ypyuan@home.swjtu.edu.cn orcid.org/0000-0001-8613-391X School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. China Correspondence Yanping Yuan, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China. Email: ypyuan@home.swjtu.edu.cnSearch for more papers by this author Qinrong Sun, Qinrong Sun School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. China School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorNan Zhang, Nan Zhang orcid.org/0000-0002-6474-5031 School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorXiaoping Yu, Xiaoping Yu School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorFali Ju, Fali Ju School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, P. R. ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorImre Miklós Szilágyi, Imre Miklós Szilágyi orcid.org/0000-0002-5938-8543 Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, HungarySearch for more papers by this authorYanping Yuan, Corresponding Author Yanping Yuan ypyuan@home.swjtu.edu.cn orcid.org/0000-0001-8613-391X School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, P. R. China Correspondence Yanping Yuan, School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, P. R. China. Email: ypyuan@home.swjtu.edu.cnSearch for more papers by this author First published: 23 December 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/er.6349Citations: 5 Funding information: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Number: 51678488; NKFIH Hungary, Grant/Award Number: BME IE-NAT TKP2020; BME Nanotechnology and Materials Science, Grant/Award Number: TKP2020 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Summary Phase change materials (PCMs) have limited use in thermal storage because of their poor conductivity and lack of multi driving energy. Therefore, to overcome these problems, polyethylene glycol-calcium chloride/expanded graphite (PEG-CaCl2/EG) functional composite PCMs with high electrical and thermal conductivities were synthesized by ligand substitution using PEG-CaCl2 as the PCM and EG as the highly electrically and thermally conductive framework material. The PEG-CaCl2/EG PCMs were thoroughly investigated, and the experimental results revealed the significance of EG in the composite structure, which leads to high electrical conductivity and high thermal conductivity. The resistivity of the functional PCM decreased to 1.67 Ω m, and the thermal conductivity (k) increased to 8.4 W/(m K) when the EG content was 10 wt%. In addition, the electro-thermal conversion efficiency of the functional PCM reached 86.9%, and its energy storage could be inspired at low voltages (2.0-5.0 V). The heating and energy storage rates increased with the working voltage and EG content, respectively. Melting-crystallization experiments and electro-thermal cycle tests showed that the functional PCMs had good thermal stability. Therefore, this study provides a new perspective for various fields of energy conversion and storage. Open Research DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Data availability statement The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Citing Literature Volume45, Issue5April 2021Pages 7675-7688 RelatedInformation