Porosity-tunable composite aerogels enabled by homogeneous phase change coating for photothermal energy conversion and storage
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GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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A method was developed to control PCM loading and aerogel porosity for precise coating impregnation.
Aerogel nanopores' nanoconfinement effect stabilizes metastable crystalline phases, resisting thermal fluctuations.
PCCA50 shows excellent photothermal conversion with 90% absorption and 86 °C surface temperature under 1 sun.
PCCA50 achieves optimized photothermal storage with 182.1 J g−1 melting enthalpy and 0.112 W m−1 K−1 thermal conductivity.
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ABSTRACT
Three-dimensional porous matrices loaded with phase change materials (PCMs) offer significant potential for photothermal energy conversion and storage. However, the composite materials prepared via vacuum impregnation suffer from low thermal conductivity. A novel phase change composite aerogel (PCCA) material is designed that simultaneously exhibits excellent thermal insulation and efficient photothermal energy conversion and storage, by leveraging the inherently low thermal conductivity of both porous materials and PCMs. PCCA constructed using biomass-derived templates demonstrates outstanding photothermal performance, achieving surface temperatures as high as 86 °C under 1 sun. A quantitative uniform coating impregnation method is developed based on the unique solid-liquid phase transition of stearic acid/ethanol mixture, which facilitates the quantitative regulation of porosity when loaded with stearic acid. PCCA50 achieves a porosity of 50%, a melting enthalpy of 182.1 J g-1, a crystallization enthalpy of 174.5 J g-1, and a thermal conductivity of 0.112 W m-1 K-1, contributing to remarkable thermal insulation and energy storage capacity. Moreover, the nanoconfined space in PCCA provides kinetic constraints for the loading of stearic acid, leading to the coexistence of sub-stable and bulk-stable polymorphs. This enables PCCA to effectively resist temperature fluctuations across a broader photothermal temperature range. -
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REFERENCES
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Ding S., Hu H., Zhu L., et al. (2025). Porosity-tunable composite aerogels enabled by homogeneous phase change coating for photothermal energy conversion and storage. The Innovation Energy 2:100109. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2025.100109
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Ding S., Hu H., Zhu L., et al. (2025). Porosity-tunable composite aerogels enabled by homogeneous phase change coating for photothermal energy conversion and storage. The Innovation Energy 2:100109. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2025.100109
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Figure 1.
Schematic illustration of the preparation procedure for PCCA.
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Figure 2.
(A) Morphological transformations during the preparation of PCCA. (B) SEM micrographs of the solid stearic acid/ethanol complexes coated on C500. (C) X-ray diffraction patterns of C500 before and after impregnation with stearic acid. (D) FTIR spectra of stearic acid in various states. (E) FTIR spectra of C500 before and after impregnation with stearic acid.
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Figure 3.
SEM images of (A) PCCA10, (B) PCCA30, (C) PCCA50, and (D) PCCA70. (E) EDS maps of PCCA50.
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Figure 4.
(A) Thermogravimetric plot. (B) Specific heat capacity of the samples as a function of temperature. (C) Thermal conductivity of the samples at 25, 60 and 75 °C. DSC curves for (D) the heating process and (E) the crystallization process. (F) The enthalpy of melting and the enthalpy of crystallization.
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Figure 5.
(A) UV-vis spectra of the samples. (B) Temperature variation curves of the illuminated and the bottom surfaces under 1 sun. (C) The maximum and average temperatures of the illuminated surface, as well as the temperature difference between the top and bottom surfaces. Infrared thermal images of (D) C500, PCCA30, PCCA50, and PCCA70 under 1 sun.
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Figure 6.
Temperature states of PCCA50 under different illumination conditions.
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Figure 7.
Temperature profiles of the samples under natural sunlight.
