Enhanced thermal transport of nanostructured phase change composite for thermal energy storage

The power dissipation capacity of organic phase change materials (PCM) which is used for thermal energy storage applications is hindered by its low thermal conductivity. In this work we demonstrate that inclusion of few layer graphene nanoplatelets dramatically increase the thermal conductivity of the PCM upon solidification. The dramatic thermal conductivity increase stems from the fact that the graphene nanoplatelets are entrapped within the grain boundaries upon solidification of the crystalline structures thereby increasing the percolation pathways. We also show that the enhancement in thermal conductivity is beyond the predictions of effective medium theory. The present work introduces an efficient way to enhance the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites using few layer graphene by effectively controlling the heat transport path simply upon solidification. Such a phase change material with enhanced thermal conductivity makes it a promising candidate for thermal energy storage applications.