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Polyethylene glycol—based functional composite phase change materials with excellent electrical and thermal conductivities
Author(s) -
Sun Qinrong,
Zhang Nan,
Yu Xiaoping,
Ju Fali,
Szilágyi Imre Miklós,
Yuan Yanping
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.6349
Subject(s) - materials science , thermal conductivity , polyethylene glycol , thermal energy storage , composite number , thermal stability , phase change material , energy storage , composite material , peg ratio , chemical engineering , thermal , thermodynamics , physics , engineering , power (physics) , finance , economics
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‐CaCl 2 /EG) functional composite PCMs with high electrical and thermal conductivities were synthesized by ligand substitution using PEG‐CaCl 2 as the PCM and EG as the highly electrically and thermally conductive framework material. The PEG‐CaCl 2 /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.