3D carbon based phase change composites: A review on progress in fabrication strategies, thermal energy storage-conversion efficacy, prototypes, numerical models and applications

Abstract

LHTES has emerged as an efficient and viable solution to mitigate a large amount of renewable and sustainable thermal energy wastage from solar radiation and industrial production in the twenty-first century. To date, 3D carbon/PCM composite has brought remarkable attention for achieving high performance in this field. This review provides a comprehensive outlook on the progress of 3D carbon and PCM-based composite materials as high-performance LHTES materials over the past 10 years, focusing on the synthesis strategies of 3D carbon, PCM infiltration process, and thermophysical attributes of 3D carbon/PCM composite. Furthermore, an effort has given to conduct rigorous literature to explore the utilization of different numerical assumptions and models for describing the heat transfer process between 3D carbon and PCM, thermal conductivity evaluation for the composite, and the mechanism of 3D carbon/PCM composite for battery thermal management and building application. The investigation of the advanced applications of 3D carbon/PCM composites reveals its potential utilization in building comfort, waste-heat recovery, power generation, and thermotherapy-based applications. Finally, the current shortcomings and future challenges associated with the developments of such composite are encountered. This comprehensive review will show the future pathway for researchers to develop high-performance composites in thermal management.