title: Electro- and photodriven phase change composites based on wax-infiltrated carbon nanotube sponges.
abstract: Organic phase change materials are usually insulating in nature, and they are unlikely to directly trigger latent heat storage through an electrical way. Here we report a multifunctional phase change composite in which the energy storage can be driven by small voltages (e.g., 1.5 V) or light illumination with high electro-to-heat or photo-to-thermal storage efficiencies (40% to 60%). The composite is composed of paraffin wax infiltrated into a porous, deformable carbon nanotube sponge; the latter not only acts as a flexible encapsulation scaffold for wax but also maintains a highly conductive network during the phase change process (for both solid and liquid states). Uniform interpenetration between the nanotube network and paraffin wax with high affinity results in enhanced phase change enthalpy and thermal conductivity compared to pure paraffin wax. Our phase change composite can store energy in practical ways such as by sunlight absorption or under voltages applied by conventional lithium-ion batteries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liangjie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ruqiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Zhenpu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yingxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Dingguo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Anyuan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cao