Review on recent advances in phase change materials for enhancing the catalytic process

Catalysis plays a critical role in almost every industrial process, and developing high-performance catalyst is one of the most efficient strategies for enhancing the catalytic process. However, most of the catalytic processes involve the heat release or absorption effect, which would influence the catalytic efficiency and even result in the deactivation of the catalyst. Recently, phase change materials (PCMs) have demonstrated unique potential for enhancing the catalytic process in thermocatalytic, photocatalytic, biocatalytic and electrochemical fields due to the thermal management and energy storage functions. The innovative integration of PCMs and catalysts can simultaneously raise energy efficiency and enhance the catalytic process. Microencapsulation technology enables the in-situ coupling of PCMs within catalysts, and the introduction of encapsulated shells or nanoparticles with catalytic effects endows the PCMs with good chemical stability, thermal cycling stability as well as high thermal conductivity. The synergistic mechanism between catalysts and PCMs in different systems can be summarized as self-stored thermal driven catalysis, in-situ temperature regulation and heat flow/electron synergistic effect. In addition, the correlation between the microstructure and catalytic/thermal management performance of PCMs@Catalysts composites was systematically discussed. Finally, the current challenges and development trends of the multifunctional PCMs@Catalysts composites are also presented. The review aims to highlight recent advances in phase change materials for enhancing the catalytic process and provide insights into the rational design and controllable preparation of PCMs@Catalysts composites.