Issue 20, 2024

van der Waals-bonded graphene clusters enhance thermal conductivity of phase-change materials for advanced thermal energy management

Abstract

Organic phase-change materials possess immense application potential, but their low thermal conductivity (≤0.5 W m−1 K−1) severely limits the thermal energy charge/discharge rate, impeding their practical implementation in the field of advanced energy. While incorporating thermally conductive fillers into the phase-change matrix can address this issue, achieving a thermal conductivity exceeding 10 W m−1 K−1 at a filler content below 30 vol% remains challenging, attributed to the absence of a well-designed filler interface and structure. Herein, a strategy for developing planar graphene clusters and subsequently integrating them with phase-change microcapsules to fabricate composites using compression molding was demonstrated. The proposed graphene clusters are formed by closely aligned and overlapping graphene sheets that bond together through van der Waals forces, resulting in a significant decrease in junction thermal resistance within the composites. Combining this interface design with compression-induced construction of a highly oriented structure, the composites achieved a remarkable thermal conductivity of 103 W m−1 K−1 with ≈29 vol% filler addition, enhancing the thermal energy charge/discharge rate by over two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the composites possess the essential enthalpy values, competent strength, and ease of shaping, making them applicable across various domains of thermal energy management.

Graphical abstract: van der Waals-bonded graphene clusters enhance thermal conductivity of phase-change materials for advanced thermal energy management

Supplementary files

Transparent peer review

To support increased transparency, we offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article.

View this article’s peer review history

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
21 Jun 2024
Accepted
25 Jul 2024
First published
27 Jul 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Mater. Horiz., 2024,11, 5031-5044

van der Waals-bonded graphene clusters enhance thermal conductivity of phase-change materials for advanced thermal energy management

L. Sun, Y. Wang, L. Chen, J. Ying, Q. Li, L. Fu, Q. Yan, K. Wu, C. Xue, J. Yu, N. Jiang, K. Nishimura, C. Lin and W. Dai, Mater. Horiz., 2024, 11, 5031 DOI: 10.1039/D4MH00792A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements