Flexible MXene-coated melamine foam based phase change material composites for integrated solar-thermal energy conversion/storage, shape memory and thermal therapy functions

By Yao-wen Shao, W. Hu, Meng-hang Gao, Yu Xiao, Ting Huang, Nan Zhang, Jing‐hui Yang, Xiao‐dong Qi, Yong Wang. 2021

165 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The liquid leakage, low light absorption capability and strong rigidity severely limit large-scale applications of phase change materials (PCMs). In this work, novel PCM composites with good encapsulation property, superior solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency and shape memory function were fabricated by introducing MXene-coated melamine foam (MF@MXene) into poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The MF@MXene/PEG composites showed satisfactory dimension retention ratio (90%) and phase change enthalpy (194.1 Jg−1). The three-dimensional MXene network constructed along the MF skeleton imparted the PCM composites with the ability to absorb and store the solar-energy as latent heat. Sunlight irradiation measurements suggested that the solar-thermal conversion efficiency reached 92.7%. Moreover, combining the resilience of MF@MXene sponge and the phase transition of PEG, the PCM composites exhibited remarkable shape fixation and recovery effects. A flexible heat eye-patch was further developed, which could be closely attached on human eyes and provided long-time thermal comfort within a stable temperature range.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6a73c51cbd41572393b2d9b65d90d471baf4c00b