Succinct Review on State-of-art Carbon-based Phase Change Material for Solar Thermal Storage Applications

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, 112233, Nigeria.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
³ Department of Physics, Covenant University, Ota, 112233, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, 112233, Nigeria.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Walter Sisulu University, East London 5200, South Africa.

^* Corresponding author: felix.ishola@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

Abstract

Radiation from the sun continually generates enormous solar energy reaching the atmosphere and then radiates back into the outer space over a while. The energy source is considered to be potential renewable thermal energies if effectively harnessed and stored. Thermal energy storage could be in either cold or heat form for later use for either cooling and heating purposes respectively; it can also be utilized for electricity production. The development of highly efficient and cost-effective heat storage materials has been an emerging school of thought for researches into smart methods of heat storage. The authors briefly review the state-of-art carbon-based composite phase change materials (PCM) that have been employed in applications that are related to thermal storage. Various types of recently developed carbon composites with improved thermal storage properties have been succinctly discussed. The technological implications of employing the identified materials in the thermal storage applications were also highlighted and discussed.