Organic Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage: Influence of Molecular Structure on Properties

Materials that change phase (e.g., via melting) can store thermal energy with energy densities comparable to batteries. Phase change materials will play an increasing role in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, by scavenging thermal energy for later use. Therefore, it is useful to have summaries...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-11, Vol.26 (21), p.6635
Main Authors: Kahwaji, Samer, White, Mary Anne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Alcohols
Alkanes
alkyl chains
Batteries
Carbon
Chemical compatibility
Chemical compounds
Climate change
Diamines
Diols
Emissions control
Energy storage
Esters
Fatty acids
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Heat
Melt temperature
melting
Molecular structure
Organic compounds
Paraffins
Phase change materials
Review
Scavenging
Storage batteries
Temperature
Thermal energy
thermal energy storage
thermodynamics
Trends
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Summary:Materials that change phase (e.g., via melting) can store thermal energy with energy densities comparable to batteries. Phase change materials will play an increasing role in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, by scavenging thermal energy for later use. Therefore, it is useful to have summaries of phase change properties over a wide range of materials. In the present work, we review the relationship between molecular structure and trends in relevant phase change properties (melting temperature, and gravimetric enthalpy of fusion) for about 200 organic compounds from several chemical families, namely alkanes (paraffins), fatty acids, fatty alcohols, esters, diamines, dinitriles, diols, dioic acids, and diamides. We also review availability and cost, chemical compatibility, and thermal and chemical stabilities, to provide practical information for PCM selection. Compounds with even chain alkyl lengths generally give higher melting temperatures, store more thermal energy per unit mass due to more efficient packing, and are of lower cost than the comparable compounds with odd alkyl chains.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules26216635