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Recent advances in phase change materials for thermal energy storage-a

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03308-7

REVIEW

Recent advances in phase change materials for thermal energy

storage‑a review
Kavati Venkateswarlu1 · Konijeti Ramakrishna2

Received: 10 March 2021 / Accepted: 25 November 2021 / Published online: 6 December 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2021

Abstract
The research on phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage systems has been gaining momentum in a quest
to identify better materials with low-cost, ease of availability, improved thermal and chemical stabilities and eco-friendly
nature. The present article comprehensively reviews the novel PCMs and their synthesis and characterization techniques
for improving the properties and long-term storage capabilities. They include eco-friendly PCMs based on wood and tree
fruit oils, microPCMs, nanoconfinement of organic PCMs, metal organic PCMs, bio-based PCMs, metal organic framework
(MOF) PCMs and form-stable PCMs with gelators. The novel approaches such as cryogenically treated microencapsulated
PCMs and treating them with photo-switching dopants to improve the properties are also presented. This review provides
the useful insights about recent advances in the field of PCMs. The phase change slurries can effectively improve the ther-
mal performance of photovoltaic/thermal systems. The thermal conductivity of PCMs can be enhanced significantly by
PCM slurries, MOFs, exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets and composite PCMs. Optical control of PCMs by doping them
with azobenzene dopants is found to be the most promising technique to improve the thermal stability and long-term stor-
age capacity of PCMs. Cyclic cryogenic treatment by liquid nitrogen followed by heat treatment of PCMs can improve the
latent heat, thermal and chemical stabilities significantly. The insightful information presented in this article can serve as an
important tool for the researchers in the field of PCMs research to further innovate the technology in different applications
such as thermal management of buildings, solar energy storage and cryogenic storage etc.

Keywords Latent heat · Microencapsulation · Novel PCM · Paraffin · Thermal energy storage

Abbreviations 1 Introduction
CSP Concentrated solar power
FSPCM Form-stabilized PCMs Energy consumption increases year-by-year due to the
IR Infra-red increased demand globally as is evident from the report of
LHTESS Latent heat thermal energy storage system International Energy Agency (IEA) that the total electric-
MOF Metal organic framework ity consumption in three different sectors namely global,
PCESW Phase change energy storage wood OECD and non-OECD countries in 2018 was 4, 1.8 and
PV/T Photovoltaic/thermal 5.7% higher, respectively, when compared to that of 2017
UV Ultra-violet as shown in Fig. 1.
Since 1974, there has been large increase in the con-
sumption of electricity in domestic, commercial and ser-
vice sectors. However, in 2018, industry emerged as the top
Technical Editor: Monica Carvalho. consumer of electricity and its share was marginally higher
than that of residential, commercial and public service sec-
* Kavati Venkateswarlu
chaitu9903@gmail.com tors. The share of other sectors such as transport, agricul-
ture and fishing in electricity consumption is less relatively.
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokaraju Rangaraju The need for energy storage and its relevant technologies
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, have attracted the attention of researchers to find the solu-
Telangana 500090, India
tions to meet the increased energy demand arising from the
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, K L E F Deemed To development of industrial and economic sectors worldwide.
Be University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India

13
Vol.:(0123456789)
6 Page 2 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
Fig. 1  Total electricity consumption globally, in OECD and non-
OECD countries during the years 2017 and 2018 (International
Energy Agency (IEA) data)
TES is a physical process which makes it possible to store
heat or cold for later use. These technologies can poten-
tially improve the energy efficiency and reduce the wastage.
Moreover, they offer the advantages of reducing both the
greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs [1, 2]. There are
three ways of accomplishing thermal energy storage, they
are: sensible heat storage, latent heat storage and thermo-
chemical heat storage [3]. Among the technologies available
for energy storage, thermal energy storage is essentially an
eco-friendly technology [4]. Water being cheap and does
not involve the risk of deriving it from toxic materials, it is
the most promising for storage of sensible heat. However,
it has certain drawbacks that it requires comparatively large
volume per the amount of heat storage whereas in case of
latent heat storage systems, since the energy storage density
increases, the storage volume reduces [5]. TES based on
PCMs is a viable path as the PCMs are capable of either
absorbing or releasing large quantity of energy during the
phase change process at almost isothermal conditions [6].
The development of high-temperature PCMs for thermal
management above 0°C dates back to 1940s in the process
of improving the efficiency of heating and cooling in homes.
However, the advancement in this filed began in 1960s when
NASA developed a range of PCMs that can be used in ther-
mal management of sensitive electronic components and
biological samples in the outer space.
Commercially available PCMs can be classified into three
groups: They are (1) organic PCMs (2) inorganic PCMs and
(3) eutectic PCMs. Organic PCMs include paraffin waxes
that are by-products from oil refineries, fatty acids such as
stearic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid and fatty acid esters
while inorganic PCMs include salt hydrates. Eutectic salts
and solutions come under the category of eutectic PCMs
[7]. Paraffin is the most widely used PCM(with the use fre-
quency as 87.5%) when compared to the other materials due
to the reason that their phase change temperature and phase
change latent heat vary based on their mass proportions
13
allowing them to have wider phase change temperatures and
higher latent heat [8]. PCMs can also be classified accord-
ing to the phase transition state as solid–liquid, solid–solid
and solid–gas [9, 10]. The advantages of solid–liquid PCMs
such as high latent heat and lower cost make them a better
choice as storage materials when compared to the other two
types [11, 12]. In solid–solid PCMs, since no liquid or gas is
generated it eliminates the need of recipient to seal the PCM
during the phase change process. Despite these advantages,
their application is limited due to the drawbacks such as
small latent heat and supercooling [13, 14].
PCMs are used in several applications such as residential
buildings and industrial applications that consume 40% and
55% energy, respectively. Building sector is the key area that
uses these PCMs for both the heating and cooling needs. The
importance of PCMs will be doubled when there is a need
to recycle and optimize the energy consumption in energy
management are important [15, 16]. In a residential building,
the use of PCMs in eastern and western walls results in an
energy savings of 29% while that in southern and northern
walls it is 19% [17].
This work mainly focuses on the recent advances in
PCMs such as novel PCMs, their synthesis and characteriza-
tion techniques for improving the properties and developing
eco-friendly PCMs. An emphasis is being given to the recent
research that focuses on novel PCMs and novel approaches
that are meant for addressing the issues related to some
important aspects of PCMs. They include the techniques
for enhancement of properties such as thermal conductivity,
energy storage density, latent heat, thermal and chemical
stability. Also presented are the solid–solid PCMs (polyal-
cohols) that can achieve shape-stability without encapsu-
lation and possess high enthalpies. The findings on novel
approaches related to conservation of energy to store it for
longer period and extend the limited utilization scope of
PCMs which were not reported in the existing review works
in the literature. Recent investigations on microencapsulated
bio-based PCMs used in building thermal energy storage and
cooling applications are presented.
2 Selection criteria of PCMs and their
incorporation methods
The PCM, selected for a particular application, should pos-
sess some important thermal, physical, chemical and kinetic
properties and should be economically feasible. It should
be non-toxic and non-corrosive, undergo slight change in
volume during phase change and should not decompose.
However, no PCM can meet all of these characteristics [18].
However, the desired properties of a particular PCM vary
based on the requirement. For example, the use of inorganic
PCM(hydrated salt) in building applications may not be a
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
right choice due to the reasons such as its degradation after
few cycles and high volume change and its reaction with
alkali environment of concrete making the phase change
process ineffective. However, in solar organic Rankine
cycle(ORC),the hydrated salt is the better candidate than the
organic PCMs due to their higher volumetric heat capacity.
Similarly the methods employed for incorporation of PCM
into concrete(in building applications) also play an impor-
tant role in maintaining the strength of the concrete and its
storage capability. The direct mixing of PCM with concrete
results in a reduced compressive strength due to the leakage
of PCM from containment during mixing [19]. However,
it is simplest method besides being practical and economi-
cal. Immersion is another method in which porous concrete
materials are immersed in the melted PCM, this method also
results in reduced mechanical properties due to the leakage
of PCM. Impregnation on the other hand allows the storage
of the sensible heat of the concrete and both the sensible and
latent heats of the impregnated PCM [20]. Table 1 shows the
thermo-physical properties of some of the PCMs considered
for TES applications [21–24].
Of all the PCMs considered for TES applications, organic
PCMs present themselves as the candidate materials because
of their better thermal, physical and chemical properties
such as large specific heat capacity, high energy storage den-
sity, low degree of supercooling and low toxicity. Though
the organic PCMs are abundantly available, they are more
expensive than the inorganic PCMs, since their thermal con-
ductivity is low which necessitates the enhancement of ther-
mal conductivity using efficient heat exchangers and various
techniques thereby increasing the cost [25]. Moreover, the
organic PCMs are highly flammable and hence their use in
construction applications is limited. Thus, a flammability
test is essentially required before the PCM is incorporated
into building material [26]. Plenty of research work is going
on from the last two to three decades to enhance the thermal
conductivity, thermal stability and durability of the PCMs to
make them suitable for wide range of temperatures and wide
variety of applications.
Table 1  Phase-change materials: thermo-physical properties
Material Thermal conductiv-
ity, W/mK
Paraffin 0.2
Non-paraffin
Fatty acids
Salt hydrates 0.5
Eutectics 0.21
Eutectic salt hydrates
Eutectic binary systems (octadeca- 0.235
noic acid + octadecanol)
Page 3 of 17 6
3 Applications of PCMs in thermal storage
3.1 PCM applications in heating and cooling
of buildings
The development of alternative low-energy and sustainable
materials for building energy storage can serve two pur-
poses, one is reduction of embodied and operational cost
of the buildings and the other is reduction in associated
carbon footprint. This can lead to the design of thermally
efficient alternative building blocks [27]. Most of the PCM
research is devoted to their application in buildings while
solar energy is next to it. PCMs typically have greater heat
storage capacity per unit volume when compared to that
of conventional building material since they store heat in
latent form. Whenever, there is a rise in ambient tempera-
ture, the chemical bonds of the material break up, leading
to a phase change from solid to liquid (an endothermic
process) and consequently heat is absorbed. The heat
absorbed will be given off when the ambient temperature
drops as the PCM returns to the solid state [28]. Figure 2
shows the global energy consumption of different sectors
namely industry, buildings, transport and others with their
consequent ­CO2 emissions. The building sector is one of
the primary sectors in some countries that involve large
amounts of energy related activities. As per the estimates
of International Energy Agency (IEA), the energy con-
sumption by building sector constitutes more than 30% of
the total energy consumption with the consequent produc-
tion of 30% of total ­CO2 emissions (not including emis-
sions from construction) world-wide [29].
It was reported that the incorporation of PCMs into
internal and external layers of sandwich panels could
result in an energy savings of nearly 20% and a reduc-
tion of nearly 39% in the peak energy required for heat-
ing and cooling [30]. The main parts of the buildings that
use PCMs include walls, floors, ceilings, windows and
shutters. In addition to these components, heat and cold
Fusion tempera- Latent heat, kJ/kg Thermal storage Cost
ture, °C density, kJ/kg
6–76 170–269 120–210 Costly
8–127 86–259 Highly costly
17–102 146–242
14–117 68–296 240 Less costly
15–82 95–218 Costly
21.4 102.3
44.2 198.7
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6 Page 4 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6

system. Iten et.al. [34], investigated the thermal perfor-

Fig. 2  The energy consumption and consequent C
­ O2 emissions in dif-
ferent sectors [29]
storage units also use PCMs. Mostly, PCM is typically
incorporated into the concrete that makes the wallboards
of building structure [31, 32]. Several researchers focussed
on PCM-based building architecture that can effectively
reduce the use of air-conditioning system for maintain-
ing the interior of the building at comfort level. Mosaffa
et.al [33] used a combination of latent heat thermal storage
unit and a refrigeration system to replace air-conditioning
mance of a TES unit incorporated into a ventilation system
with the commercial PCM RT25. RT20, RT25 and RT27
are the promising PCMs for free heating and cooling appli-
cations. They found that the air inlet temperature and air
inlet velocity are the influencing factors in melting and
solidification processes. Osterman et.al. [35], developed
a storage unit to minimize the energy consumption for
building indoor comfort conditions. This unit uses a PCM
which is incorporated in TES so that cold gets accumu-
lated during the summer nights in order to reduce the cool-
ing load during the day time and the solar radiation from
solar collector can be stored to meet the heating require-
ments during off sunshine periods. The conventional bitu-
men which is typically used in road construction works
has low thermal conductivity and is sensitive to tempera-
ture leading to the accumulation of heat and very small
quantity of it is dissipated. The modified bitumen with
the metal oxide inclusion in nanoscale can enhance its
heat transfer capabilities as is evident from the modified
samples being cooler than the unmodified ones by 8-100C
under the similar heating conditions. PCMs can also be
used to enhance the thermal properties of bitumen [36].
The suitable melting point range for building applications
varies from 19 to 28°C and 25 to 35°C for both organic and
inorganic PCMs, respectively. The heat of fusion of both
inorganic and organic PCMs varies from 120 to 180 kJ/kg
[37]. The thermal conductivity of both organic and inor-
ganic PCMs are 0.2 and 0.6, respectively, while their den-
sity varies from 700 to 900 kg/m3 and 1300 to 1800 kg/m3,
respectively. Table 2 shows that the thermal conductivity
of concrete is higher than that of other building materials
allowing more absorption and release of heat energy com-
paratively when the phase change of PCMs incorporated into
the concrete occurs [38].
Figure 3 shows that the salt hydrate PCM (melting
point of 10°C) incorporated with a domestic chiller of
12 kW cooling capacity results in an energy savings of
13% when compared to that of ice storage. The advantage
with this arrangement is that the chiller not only fulfils the
cooling requirements of the building but can also charge
the PCM [39]. Recently organic PCMs were prepared by

Table 2  Estimated energy Materials Material properties

storage properties of building
materials of 20 cm thickness Density (kg/m3) Thermal conductivity Thermal capacity (kJ/m2K)
[38] (W/m–K)
Overall In relation to
gypsum board

Concrete 2400 1.70 360.00 10.32

Gypsum board 160 0.17 34.88 1.00
Plasterboard 160 0.17 28.80 0.83
Plasters 850 0.20 170 4.87

13
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
Fig. 3  The consumption of
energy (peak and off-peak) with
and without PCM [39]
Parameshwaran et.al [40]. with the integration of microen-
capsulated bio-based PCM into the micro-concrete com-
posite (MbPMC). This novel PCM can be used for thermal
energy storage and passive cooling of the buildings without
a compromise in structural integrity.
3.2 Waste heat recovery from industries
As per the estimates of IEA, the share of industrial segment
is around 37% of total energy use in 2018, which repre-
sents 0.9% annual increase since 2010 with 0.8% growth in
the year 2018 when compared to 1.6% of the previous year.
Direct ­CO2 emissions from industrial sector constitute about
24% of global emissions. Thus, it is imperative to explore
various alternative approaches to reduce the ­CO2 emissions.
Energy efficiency improvement can potentially reduce these
emissions. Nearly 27% of the residential air-conditioning
needs can be met by the high temperature exhaust from a
power plant [41]. Li et.al. [42], developed a dynamic thermal
management model for the recovery of the industrial waste
heat using the PCM. They reported that the use of tube-type
PCM storage module could result in a fuel savings of nearly
7% per day.
3.3 PCMs for increasing the driving range
of electrical vehicles during cold conditions
The automotive vehicles powered by internal combustion
engines (ICE) and electric power require different thermal
Page 5 of 17 6
management systems as their powertrains are different.
As far as combustion vehicles are concerned, ICE gener-
ates the power and runs the other auxiliary components
including the temperature control of engine and cabin.
Electric vehicles (EVs), in contrast, are driven by bat-
teries and thus the thermal management of batteries is
essentially important. In EVs, it is possible that the elec-
tric power components can achieve higher power and effi-
ciency with lower heat generating range comparatively.
Despite that, their thermal management system must be
capable of responding quickly to the operating conditions
of the vehicle because of their high temperature sensi-
tivity and low temperature range [43]. Thermal manage-
ment in EVs is crucial in extending the driving range and
as well for maintaining optimal working conditions for
motor and electronics. Thermal management using active
cooling such as forced circulation of either air or liquid
can improve the performance of the battery by 30–40%;
however, this adds to the complexity of the battery design
and operation. Thermal management by passive methods
proves to be effective when compared to that of the active
methods. In this, the PCM integrated into the cell/battery
will act as the heat sink for the generated heat when the
Li-ion battery discharges. This process, being highly exo-
thermic, releases heat that can be stored and evolved later
whenever the temperature of the battery drops during cold
weather conditions. The ideal PCM for this application
requires a melting point of 30–60°C [44].
13
6 Page 6 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
3.4 PCMs for storage of solar energy
Thermal energy is abundantly available in the form of solar
radiation and geothermal sources. However, solar radiation
is intermittent and variable in nature and hence its potential
is highly unpredictable. Thus, it requires efficient energy
storage units. High-temperature solar energy plants (tem-
perature above 300°C), in particular have attracted the atten-
tion of researchers world-wide. Inorganic salts as PCMs can
effectively store the energy at high temperatures due to their
capacity to produce large amount of latent heat with minimal
change in density during phase change form solid to liquid
[45].
For electric power generation, the solar organic Rank-
ine cycle(ORC) is advantageous when compared to that of
photovoltaic(PV) systems since it can be possible to inte-
grate solar ORC with the TES equipment to store higher
amounts of heat energy in thermal rather than in electric
form. In addition, TES offers so many advantages than the
commercial batteries as the former is currently cheaper and
has longer usable lifetime. PCMs application in solar pho-
tovoltaic (PV) systems enhance the electrical efficiency in
addition to the improvement in thermal energy utilization
[46]. The selection criterion of a PCM for PV applications
primarily considers the melting point of PCM based on PV
material and climatic conditions. Most studies found that
25–35°C is the suitable melting point for PV applications.
The use of high latent heat PCMs can help PCMs hold the
surface temperature of PV constantly for longer duration.
Paraffin can be the most promising with good thermal sta-
bility over several cycles [47]. It was found that PV-effi-
ciency reduces due to high operating temperatures in hot
climates. This can be countered by the combined effect of
PCMs with nanofluids. The combined active and passive
cooling techniques can help reduce the PV-cell temperatures
thereby enhancing the PV-efficiency. It was reported that
the integration of water-based hybrid photovoltaic/thermal
(PV/T) systems with the PCM can improve the PV-efficiency
by 32% while with the nanofluid-based PV/T systems the
improvement is 60%. Electrical power generation capacity
and PV-efficiency can further be improved by a combina-
tion of nanofluid and nano-PCM [48]. Furqan et.al. [49],
reported that the best performance of PV panel was observed
at 0.5 wt% of nanomaterial in graphene nanoplatelets/PT-58
nano-PCM. With this material combination, the maximum
reduction in PV-cell temperature was nearly 10°C while the
increase in electrical efficiency was around 12% when com-
pared to that of conventional PV panels. The solar ORC
system equipped with PCM storage is capable of produc-
ing 20% extra electrical power when compared to that of
solar ORC system using water as the medium. For these
systems, hydrated salts are the better candidates than the
organic PCMs due to their higher volumetric heat capacity
13
[50]. The other PCMs used in the solar ORC were erythritol,
xylitol, D-mannitol and magnesium chloride hexahydrate
­(MgCL26H2O). When compared to M ­ gCL26H2O, erythritol
can store 30% more energy per unit volume as a PCM in
solar ORC [51]. However, these studies have not considered
the design of heat exchangers such as embedded and packed-
bed heat exchangers that can use encapsulated PCMs for
effective heat transfer performance.
However, the research on latent heat thermal energy stor-
age system (LHTESS) that use high-temperature PCMs in
concentrated solar thermal (CST) system is not fully estab-
lished as it lacks the strategies for the PCM encapsulation
at elevated temperatures and enhancement of heat transfer
[52, 53]. Recently a PCM-based direct vapour generation
solar ORC is developed [54]. For the transmission of heat
to the system, an array of flat plate collectors was used, the
PCM storage tank being coupled to it for power generation.
With this system, it could be possible to improve the ORC
efficiency, system efficiency and net power output by 0.57%,
0.44% and 1.73 kW, respectively.
Various solar ORC systems using different PCMs have
been developed by researchers. For solar ORC plants,
with the given configuration, the operating temperature of
200–230°C will be more favourable since there are several
PCM materials available in this range. Table 3 shows the
materials and their properties such as melting temperature
(Tm), solidification temperature (Ts) and heat of fusion (Hm),
suitable in the above temperature range. Solar salt (40%
­KNO3 and 60% N ­ ANO3) is the most suitable in the above
range of temperature whose melting point is 220°C [55].
Sugar alcohol (SA) is another such material which is most
promising for medium temperature applications owing to its
high storage capacity, higher heat of fusion and being safe.
Despite these advantages it is expensive and has high amount
of hysteresis equal to 30–40°C at phase change temperature
[56]. However, further studies are needed to improve the life
time of it by conducting more number of melting/freezing
cycles. Moreover the oxygen present in it is another issue to
be considered, since SA reacts with oxygen and its preven-
tion involves either vacuum or nitrogen atmosphere. The
use of salt mixtures encapsulated into small capsules could
Table 3  The properties of the PCM materials suitable for small solar
ORC plants [61]
Phase change material Tm (°C) Ts (°C) Hm (J/g)
60 wt.% N­ aNO3 + 4O wt. % ­KNO3 221 221 96
46.7 wt.% ­NaNO3 + 40 wt.% ­KNO3 221 221 100
87.3 wt.% ­NaNO2 + 12.7 wt.% NaOH 232 232 252
39 wt.% ­NaNO2 + 61 wt.% NaOH 237 227 294
Myo-inositol 224 192 260
Tin 232 232 60
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
improve the energy density by nearly 50% due to the fact that
nearly 90% of the salt in capsules undergoes phase change.
However, the main limitation with encapsulated salts is the
requirement of a void inside the shell to allow for the expan-
sion of salt when it is heated above 550°C [57]. Moreover,
the thermal conductivity of solar salt is quite low which
causes problems in completing the thermal energy charging
and discharging at the required rate [58, 59]. This can be
addressed by using metal inserts which will enhance the heat
transfer process in LHTESS. The use of aluminium fins in
solar ORC system can be advantageous than the steel ones
as the former results in lower temperature gradient across
the latent heat thermal storage system [60].
The long-term storage materials are essentially required
to meet the seasonal variation of solar energy which is an
intermittent and variable source. PCMs with two phase
change temperatures can be a potential solution to overcome
this drawback.
3.5 PCMs for cryogenic storage
Salt hydrates as inorganic PCMs have certain benefits such
as higher heat storage capacity, suitable cold storage tem-
perature and being non-flammable making them a better
candidate for cold storage applications when compared to
that of organic PCMs. The conventional methods such as
ice storage and water storage cannot achieve the temperature
of cold storage as it is in the range of − 20 to − 30°C. The
PCMs in these applications need to be with the lower phase
change temperatures, which however, reduce the latent heat
of phase change. This can be addressed by the addition of
inorganic salts to the water which helps reduce the phase
change temperature of cold storage material without affect-
ing its phase change latent heat. The advents in technologies
for grid scale thermal storage such as liquid air energy stor-
age (LAES) and pumped thermal electricity storage (PTES)
can potentially address the issues of intermittency and insta-
bility as far as electricity generation from renewable energy
sources is concerned. Cryogenic temperature cold storage
is a promising technology to improve the performance of
both LEAS and PTES [61–63]. For cryogenic temperature
storage, microencapsulated PCM slurries (MEPCMS) can
be a viable option. MEPCMSs can combine the advantages
of PCMs and liquid sensible energy storage materials and
can serve as both heat transport and thermal storage media
[64]. Several PCM materials have been tested for cryogenic
storage applications. 2-Methylpentane owing to its high heat
of fusion, chemical stability and low temperature vapour
pressure proves to be a candidate in the low temperature in
the range of 115 to 120 K [65]. MethylCycloPentane (MCP-
C6H12) is another such PCM that can be useful at low tem-
perature as low as 150 K [22].
Page 7 of 17 6
4 Novel PCMs
Based on the literature, it was observed that the research on
the conventional PCMs focussed on two aspects: (1) The
focus on the simple organic and inorganic compounds lead-
ing to their commercialization, which however, suffer from
the drawbacks of low energy density and lower overall per-
formance, limiting their application to a very narrow range,
and (2) The focus of selection criteria on thermo-physical
properties not including other properties such as health haz-
ards, thermal cycling and reactivity with the outside envi-
ronment. The focus of the researchers for the development
of novel PCMs mainly relies on the improvement of energy
density and overall performance, long-term storage (thermal
energy conservation) and eco-friendly PCMs and the novel
strategies to make them usable in wide range of applications.
The researchers have developed several new class of
PCMs for wide range of applications such as microencap-
sulated PCMs, composite PCMs, composite PCMs with two
phase transition temperatures etc.,
4.1 Microencapsulated phase change materials
Microencapsulated PCMs (MPCM) are prepared by the dis-
persion of PCM particles in the carrier fluid, that is, encap-
sulating the PCM into hermetically sealed tiny containers
so that it can be possible to a shape for solid–liquid PCMs.
The product that results from this packaging technology is
called as microcapsule. Microencapsulation of core mate-
rial can be effective not only in reducing the reactivity of
core material but also promotes the controlled release of
core material. Also core material can be handled and stored
with ease [66]. Figure 4 [67] shows how a PCM core is
contained in a microcapsule. The basic requirements for the
better encapsulation of PCMs include the formation of shell
Fig. 4  A PCM core contained in a typical microcapsule [67]
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6 Page 8 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
surrounding the core of the PCM, the shell formed should
prevent the leakage of PCM when melted and there should
not be any impurities in the core/shell system. Moreover,
the synthesized nano/micro capsules should be capable of
withstanding the mechanical and thermal stresses to which
they are subjected to. The classification of capsules such as
nano, micro and macro is based on their size and shape of
capsules produced.
MPCMs are capable of storing and releasing large quanti-
ties of thermal energy with minimal rise in temperature. The
several advantages with these include large thermal energy
storage potential, higher specific heat capacity, reduced reac-
tivity with outside environment, controlled volume changes
during phase transition and higher heat transfer rates at iso-
thermal conditions. For the preparation of microcapsules,
wide variety of synthesis techniques have been developed
by various researchers. These include emulsion polymeriza-
tion, in-situ polymerization, pickering emulsion polymeri-
zation, interfacial polymerization, sol–gel and microfluidic
technique.
Form-stable phase change materials (FSPCM) can resolve
the problem of leakage in solid–liquid phase transition pro-
cess. The main advantage of this encapsulation is it can pre-
vent paraffin leakage effectively. However, since the weight
percent of paraffin cannot be more than 85% and moreover
as the latent heat of paraffin composite PCM is dependent on
the weight percent of paraffin in the composite, the reduction
in latent heat is a disadvantage.
Conductive filler with reduced volume in phase change
composites is a viable solution for improving the thermal
performance and energy density of PCMs. A form-sta-
ble PCM (FSPCM) is a composite material that contains
solid–liquid PCM for thermal energy storage and a sup-
porting material to maintain the solid shape of the FSPCM.
As far as the cost of encapsulation and enhancement in
the conductivity of PCMs are concerned, form-stabilized
(shape- stabilized) PCMs and composite PCMs can be the
most promising techniques [68].The phase change proper-
ties of FSPCMs lie between the solid–liquid and solid–solid
PCMs. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been investigated
by several researchers to form the shape-stabilized phase
change materials as they exhibited better storage capabilities
[69]. PEG can be used as a solid–liquid PCM since it has
superior properties such as high latent heat of fusion, suit-
able melting point(3.2 to 68.7°C), low vapour pressure when
melted and being chemically stable. The phase transition
temperature, latent heat and mechanical properties of PEG
are strongly dependent on its molecular weight [70] which is
evident from the wide ranges of melting point, heat of melt-
ing and the degree of crystallinity of PEG being given as 1
to ­660C, 165 to 189.7 J/g and 83.8 to 96.4%, respectively,
depending on molecular weight [71]. Feng et.al. [72], pre-
pared the PEG and active carbon (AC) composite PCM with
13
direct blending and impregnation methods. They reported
that the liquid phase leaked when the weight percentage of
PEG in composite was higher (above 80%). It was also found
that the composite could maintain thermal stability up to
250°C. The phase change temperatures of PEG/AC PCMs
showed an increase with increase in PEG molecular weights
(PEG weight percentage being constant), while the phase
change enthalpies increased first and then decreased with an
increase in PEG molecular weights. However, the molecular
weight of PEG should be chosen as per the requirements of
the ambient temperature. The main limitation of the PEG/
AC composite is the detrimental effect of porous support
on crystallization and phase change enthalpies which are
crucial for maintaining the composite PCM in solid state.
Solid–solid PCMs present some advantages when compared
to that of solid–liquid PCMs in that it is possible to achieve
shape-stability without any encapsulation, in addition, they
also retain bulk solid properties over a range of tempera-
tures. The high enthalpies (15–270 J/g) of polyalcohols dur-
ing their solid–solid phase transitions are an example for this
class of materials [73].
The limitations of microencapsulation of both organic
and inorganic PCMs include supercoiling and crystalliza-
tion confinement which will slow down the thermal response
thereby reduce the charging and discharging efficiency.
Moreover, there lacks well-established synthesis methods
to design core–shell structures when inorganic shells are
used with inorganic PCMs. This will result in corrosion from
inorganic PCMs on the shell material with the consequent
reduction in heat storage capacity. Also there is a need to
establish standard testing methods to test the properties such
as multicycle thermal circulating performance, crack dam-
age stress and anti-osmosis property [74].
4.2 PCMs derived from renewable and sustainable
sources
The negative environmental footprint of conventional PCM
materials drives and motivates the researchers towards the
development of Tropical tree fruit oils such as allanblackia,
shea butter and palm kernel oils were recently investigated
as PCMs for TES applications [75]. It was found that these
oils were thermally stable and allanblackia in particular can
be used as a PCM for thermal energy storage provided its
oxidative stability is improved. To improve the oxidative
stability, it is required to modify these oils to convert them
into fatty acids and their corresponding esters. Wood offers
several advantages, firstly it is a natural porous material and
secondly it is cheap and abundantly available. It is most
widely used as a building material and furniture structural
material for several years [76]. A novel PCM/wood com-
posite was prepared by Barreneche et.al [77] by incorporat-
ing paraffin wax into wood with an intent of regulating the
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
indoor temperature of buildings. They prepared composite
with direct impregnation of PCM into wood, which how-
ever, failed due to leakage. Another such composite is pre-
pared by Lin et.al. [78], by incorporating graphene aerogel
encapsulated PEG as phase change material into wood for
use in building indoor comfort requirements. The thermal
conductivity of prepared composite is nearly 274% higher
than that of pure wood. Recently incorporating PCM into
porous media to prevent the leakage of liquid state PCMs
has been an active area of research due to several benefits
offered by them such as large surface area and low density.
In addition, the feature of porous material to hold the PCMs
in pores by capillarity making them an excellent substrate is
another advantage with them [79]. PCMs using porous car-
bon materials, such as graphite, expanded graphite, graphene
oxide, carbon nanospheres, and carbon nanotubes (CNT)
are analysed by various studies for their properties. Among
these porous carbon materials, graphene and CNT are the
most promising candidates for the development of compos-
ite PCMs that offer highest performance. However, there
are limitations associated with graphene and CNT that they
involve complex preparation and difficult pore regulation.
Wang et.al. [80], prepared a phase change energy stor-
age wood (PCESW) by incorporating microPCM into balsa
wood using vacuum impregnation method. Balsa wood
has low density and high porosity, its porosity is further
improved by delignification using a solution consisting
of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphite. Moreover its
energy storage capacity is increased by adding graphene.
This PCESW can be effectively used for indoor tempera-
ture regulation in building energy conservation. However,
due to the poor connectivity of the wood pores and big size
of microPCM, uneven distribution of microPCM resulted,
leading to the inhomogeneous heat transmission of wood.
Moreover, thermal stability decreased when temperature
was increased above ­1000C due to the decomposition of
both microPCM core material and wall material. Recently
Parvate et.al. [81] developed microPCM by encapsulation
of hexadecane PCM with titanium oxide (­ TiO2) nanoparti-
cles. They found that 2.6 wt% of ­TiO2 resulted in maximum
phase change enthalpy of 174 J/g and an encapsulation effi-
ciency of 76.6%. The developed microPCM could maintain
thermal stability over 100 melting–freezing cycles. These
microPCMs can be effectively used in applications such as
biomedical filed, residential buildings in polluted area and
solar energy storage in industrial establishments.
4.3 Nanoconfinement of organic PCMs
Nanoconfinement of organic PCMs in porous materials
such as graphene, graphene oxide and carbon aerogels
has been investigated by some researchers to improve the
thermal conductivity and to shift the crystallization point
Page 9 of 17 6
(Tc) of PCMs [82]. Huang et.al. [83], studied the phase
transition behaviour of octadecanol/carbon aerogels by
infiltrating the octadecanol into aerogel. They observed
that the disturbance of aerogel on the crystal structure of
PCM induced by nanoconfinement influenced the phase
change behaviour of phase change process, and as a result,
solid–solid and solid–liquid phase change occurred at
lower temperature. They reported that the composite had
a high energy capacity than the pure PCM. However, the Tc
of nanoconfined PCM is fixed being strongly influenced by
the composition of PCM and nano-structured host material
and hence their phase responds passively to the changing
ambient temperature. The improved thermal conductivity
and phase change enthalpy (which corresponds to energy
density) are the two important parameters that make the
graphene-aerogel-based phase change composites an
attractive materials for thermal storage applications. More-
over, the graphene-aerogel-based phase change composites
due to their graphene porous network also exhibit the good
performance as electric conductors allowing them to be
used in electrical-thermal conversion and storage. How-
ever, there are certain drawbacks such as easily reopening
of porous network under the external strike can cause PCM
leakage [84]. Recent study by Mitran et.al [85]. shows
that the porous silica nanomaterials are most promising to
improve the properties of PCMs such as long-term stor-
age capacity, heat storage capacity, thermal conductivity
and thermal reliability. Moreover, silica-based PCMs offer
some advantages in terms of the properties such as thermal
and chemical stability when compared to that of pristine-
based PCMs.
It was found that the nanoparticle enhanced PCMs (NeP-
CMs) exhibited improved thermal conductivity, that is, 0.1
wt% of nano dispersion could result in an improvement of
55% in thermal conductivity. These PCMs can be utilized
in wide range of applications such as cold storage applica-
tions, solar collectors and in Li-ion batteries. However, there
are no studies related to the optimal concentration of NeP-
CMs that will address the issue of inconsistency in the latent
heat of the NePCMs [86]. Moreover, there are compatibility
problems between PCM and the additive used, since coagu-
lation of nanoparticles after some cycles of melting–freez-
ing processes may be the reason. To counter this, magneti-
cally stirring was proposed by Dao-Yu Sun et.al [87]. They
used a magnetic bed embedded in the container that is filled
with liquid octadecanol. A rotating magnetic field is used
to induce the forced convection heat transfer of the fluid
(octadecanol) used which resulted in an improvement in
heat transfer from liquid phase to solid phase. Alizadeh et.al.
[88] studied the single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNT)
to remedy the shortcoming of low thermal conductivity of
PCMs which increases the undesirable solidification time.
They used 4% SWCNT-enhanced PCM in LHTESS and
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6 Page 10 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
reported that there is a reduction time of 61.54% in full
solidification time(FST) when compared to the pure PCM.
4.4 Form‑stabilized PCMs with Gelators
Wu et.al [89] prepared FSPCMs by introducing gelator into
paraffin. Their results show that the phase change tempera-
tures for both melting and freezing before thermal cycling
were 58.7 and 52.0°C, while they were 58.3 and 52.6°C after
thermal cycling, respectively. And also latent heat of fusion
and latent heat of freezing varied slightly due to repeated
thermal cycling meaning that the composite PCM is capable
of maintaining the stable phase change temperatures and
enthalpies over multicycle phase transition. Recently the
immobilization of bio-based ambient temperature PCM via
gelation is tried [90]. For this purpose, two organogelators
with different chemistry were used. Combining the two gela-
tors showed a strong synergistic effect with higher modulus
and yield strength than that of each of the gelators. There is
no much difference in thermal behaviour of the blended one
when compared to the individual ones; however, blending
affected crystalline morphology. Zhang et.al. [91], prepared
gelatinous shape-stabilized PCMs by incorporating polyol
acetal derivatives into paraffin. The PCM is not only a low
molecular weight material but also showed high heat storage
density. Moreover, the PCM is of solid-gel nature, thus the
leakage is also minimal. With this kind of PCMs, it could
be possible to maintain the paraffin weight as high as 94%.
4.5 Composite PCM with two phase transition
temperatures
Most of the PCMs considered for improving the efficiency
of solar heating systems work for some specific conditions
only; however, in case of year-round applications, the PCM
with single melting point cannot fulfil the requirements
and thus there is a need to develop the PCM materials that
have two melting points since the temperature in evacuated
tube collector is high in summer while it is low in winter as
the solar radiation intensity varies and as well the ambient
temperature varies [90]. Wu et.al. [92], prepared a novel
composite PCM, CA62 (a combination of capric acid and
#62 paraffin) which can reach two different phase transition
temperatures (PTTs) and potentially be of use for seasonal
thermal energy storage. This composite PCM with two
solid–liquid points can also be useful in other applications
such as heat storage in the walls of passive air-conditioning
of the room.
Recent study shows that PCMs were prepared by molten
salt/expanded graphite FSPCMs [93]. Molten salts, obtained
from fusion of inorganic salt, are most promising fluids for
storage of sensible and latent heat. These fluids have better
properties such as low vapour pressure, high heat capacity,
13
low viscosity and being stable at high temperatures and can
be effectively used to store thermal energy at high tempera-
tures of nearly ­6000C, mostly suitable in concentrated solar
power (CSP) applications [94]. The change in enthalpy
of the prepared composite PCM is negligible, that is the
enthalpies of melting and freezing were dropped by 5.89
and 8.48%, respectively, after 500 cycles. A novel compos-
ite PCM was prepared by Huang et.al. [95], by adding gra-
phene oxide (GO) to melted disodium hydrogen phosphate
dodecahydrate (DHDP), N ­ a2HPO4.12H2O and impregnated
it into expanded vermiculite(EV). The addition of 0.2 wt.%
of GO resulted in an improvement in latent heat from 167
to 229 J/g.
4.6 Metal‑salt hydrates
To provide the stability and controllable high energy den-
sity to PCM, different methods have been proposed by vari-
ous researchers. The higher volumetric energy densities of
metal-salt hydrates such as barium hydroxide octahydrate,
(Ba(OH) 2·8H 2O) and stranium hydroxide octahydrate
(Sr(OH)2·8H2O) make them attractive PCMs with extremely
high enthalpies of fusion, i.e., 644 kJ/L at 78°C and 703 kJ/L
at 89°C, respectively. However, there are no studies on these
materials determining their exact structural and chemical
features that result in high energy density [96, 97]. The inter-
action between the H ­ 2O molecules and hydroxide anions
results in dense hydrogen bond networks which are crucial
for the relatively large volumetric enthalpies of fusion [98,
99]. Based on the literature, it was observed that paraffins
undergo sharp, reversible melting transitions with low volu-
metric energy density [100, 101], while metal-salt hydrates
although they undergo phase transitions with higher volu-
metric energy density, yet they have the issues related to
phase separation and supercooling.
4.7 Metal organic PCMs
Intermolecular interactions, hydrogen bonding in particular,
play a vital role as they govern the phase change processes
and control the phase transition temperatures and thermal
energy densities by tuning these interactions. The unique
feature of metal organic PCMs is that they have varied range
of modular and tunable structures allowing them to be con-
trolled through proper ligand design and directional coordi-
nation bonds thereby leading to the study of thermodynam-
ics and kinetics of phase transitions [102]. The metal organic
PCMs require a ligand to form a dense hydrogen bond. Sev-
eral materials are available such as sugar alcohols (SA) and
urea that can form a dense hydrogen bond. However, there
are limitations associated with both urea and SA. While urea
decomposes very rapidly when it melts making it unsuit-
able for reversible thermal energy storage, the additional
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
requirements of sugar alcohols on the other hand to pre-
vent their reaction with oxygen present in them make them
unsuitable for energy storage. McGillicuddy et.al. [103],
developed metal organic PCMs that can undergo tunable
high-enthalpy melting transitions over a wide range of tem-
peratures while maintaining high energy density. They used
N-methylurea (MeUr) as a ligand since it has high hydrogen
bond network and does not decompose. The significant con-
tributions of this work made it possible to manipulate the
enthalpy and entropy of phase transitions of the TES with
the chemical intuition they developed and the same can also
be extended to other class of metal organic PCMs. However,
this study has not focussed on the property corrosivity of the
developed metal organic PCMs which renders it a potential
thermal energy storage material. Most importantly this study
lacks the findings related to supercooling between melting
and crystallization transitions which determines the suitabil-
ity of the PCMs in so many thermal storage applications.
4.8 Composite PCMs with metal foams
Metal foams present themselves as thermal conductivity
boosters and are being used in several applications because
they have high porosity, continuous connective strength and
better mechanical strength. The composite PCMs were pre-
pared by metal foams using a combination of paraffin, nickel
and paraffin, copper and paraffin/copper foam with vacuum
impregnation method. From these findings it was found that
the composite based on paraffin-nickel exhibited three times
higher thermal conductivity than that of pure paraffin. The
presence of metal foam resulted in a shift in phase change
temperature slightly [104]. The thermal conductivity of
materials with the porosities of 96.95, 92.31, 88.89%, was
enhanced by 13, 31 and 44%, respectively [105]. Though the
temperature distribution of paraffin/copper foam composite
PCMs was more uniform when compared to pure paraffin,
however, the porous copper structure hampered the flow
of liquid paraffin with the consequent reduction in natural
convection in the composite PCM than that of pure paraf-
fin[106]. Xiang et.al. [107], prepared the composite PCMs
by mixing two types of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets
(xGnP-1 and xGnP-15) with the paraffin wax. The results
show that the thermal conductivity of composite containing
xGnP-15 is much higher than that of xGnP-1. Latent heat
and thermal stability also increased slightly with the addi-
tion of xGnP.
4.9 Metal organic framework based PCMs
Metal organic framework (MOF)-based PCMs are another
class of composite PCMs which is hybrid organic–inorganic
porous crystalline materials derived from organic linkers
and metal-containing nodes. These composites, due to their
Page 11 of 17 6
superior properties such as high specific surface area, poros-
ity, structural diversity and tunability, can be effectively used
for variety of applications. These MOFs can be used as the
matrix in the preparation of shape-stabilized PCMs. The
novel fatty acid composite, MIL-101-NH2 which has highest
latent heat of 120.53 J/G, can be utilized for low temperature
storage. The fatty acids such as stearic acid, palmitic acid,
myristic acid and lauric acid can be more promising in the
low temperature storage applications [108]. Pristine MOFs,
pristine composites and their derivatives are among the
MOFs being developed. Pristine is the notable among these
materials. However, the higher price of MOFs when com-
pared to that of other traditional porous supporting materials
is a main limitation and also the thermal conductivity of
pristine-based composite PCMs is low [109].
4.10 PCM slurries
The thermal conductivity of PCMs is low particularly when
it solidifies on the surface of heat transfer. A phase change
slurry(PCS) is capable of serving the twin goals: one as a
thermal storage medium and the other as a heat transfer fluid.
PCM slurry typically consists of small microencapsulated
PCM particles suspended in a carrier fluid that enhances the
heat transfer to the PCM. The PCM slurry can be defined
as a combination of the carrier fluid (capable of transfer-
ring thermal energy from a hot medium to cold one thereby
maintaining the stable performance of the device) and sus-
pended PCM. The use of PCM slurries as working fluids in
place of water for photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems has
been studied by various researchers. With this new concept,
it could be possible to produce both sensible heat and latent
heat rather than only sensible heat storage with the con-
sequent improvement in thermal performance of the PV/T
system [110].The PCSs in refrigeration and air-condition-
ing applications are capable of increasing thermal storage
capacity, enhance the heat transfer rate and positive phase
change temperatures that can occur at low pressures. Thus
they increase the energy efficiency and reduce the thermal
fluid circulation [111]. Structurally the nanoencapsulated
PCM slurries are more stable than that of micron counter-
part. Moreover in the nanoencapsulated PCM slurries, the
resistance to heat transfer can be reduced by the unsuccess-
ful close contact between the nanoparticles and heat transfer
fluid [112]. In microchannel heat sinks, the use of nanoen-
capsulated PCM slurries not only enhances the thermal
capacity but also enhances thermal conductivity. The silica
nanoencapsulated indium PCM slurry is most promising in
this class of materials since the silica shell used can pre-
vent both the leakage of liquid indium and agglomeration
of nanocapsules at elevated temperatures [113]. However,
with increase in PCM mass fraction, the heat capacity of
nanoencapsulated PCM slurry reduces since the PCM has
13
6 Page 12 of 17 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
Fig. 5  The heat storage and
release cycle in the composite
of PCMs and photo-switching
dopants [117]
lower sensible heat capacity than that of carrier fluid. Thus,
a single PCM cannot be more effective in these applications
and necessitates the use of multiple PCMs with different
melting points.
5 Novel strategies to enhance
the properties of PCMs
The conservation of thermal energy of the PCMs to store
it for long-term and release the same is another issue to be
addressed. There will always be a spontaneous heat loss
from the thermally charged PCMs to cooler surroundings
when there is no substantial energy barrier for liquid–solid
transition process. As mentioned earlier the researchers used
nano/micro encapsulation technique to enhance the proper-
ties such as thermal conductivity and some other researchers
used nanocoatings to the encapsulated PCMs which offer the
benefits such as flexible shell material and PCM selection
based on the application requirements. However, the major
drawbacks of this technology are its high processing cost and
selection of the right material [67]. The use of hybrid system
with PCM consisting of heat pipe and porous materials is
another alternative approach to enhance the heat transfer
capacity of PCMs [114]. The integration of photo-switching
13
dopants into PCMs and cryogenic treatment of PCMs are the
novel approaches in this regard.
5.1 Treating PCMs with photo‑switching dopants
Though the use of photo-switches as dopants is not a new
idea since they were initially applied in liquid crystals to
change their phase in early 1990s, their integration into
conventional latent heat storage materials for TES is newly
discovered. The primary advantage of integrating dopants
into PCM is that it can prevent the crystallization when the
PCM is cooled below its original phase change tempera-
ture. This hybrid photo-switch/PCM is capable of storing
the thermal energy for longer term well below its crystalliza-
tion temperature without a compromise in storage capacity.
The feature of photo-switching dopants to strongly absorb
ultra-violet (UV) light which can only induce photoreactions
at simple surfaces makes them attractive for photo-induced
reversible solid–liquid transitions. There are materials such
as azobenzene, spiropyran, and diarylethene that can be
photo-switched and can be used in reversible solid–liquid
transitions [115]. Han et.al. [116, 117] studied extensively
the photo-switching dopants use in PCMs. They introduced
azobenzene (photo-switching) dopant into organic PCM to
provide an activation energy barrier for PCM solidification.
This approach allows the PCM to be triggered optically to
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2022) 44:6
release the stored latent heat (nearly 200 J/g) for a minimum
of 10 h at temperatures well below the original crystalliza-
tion temperature. Figure 5 [117] demonstrates the strategy
how the crystallization point (Tc) of organic PCM can be
optically triggerable. The PCM (whose melting point, ­tm
is in the range of 10 to 70°C) melts first, while azoben-
zene dopants (tm = 73°C) get aggregated and dispersed in
the melted PCM. The activation of trans-Azo dopants to
isomerize into cis can be done by the UV illumination on
suspension. When compared to the trans form, the cis rep-
resents higher polarity and steric bulk. ΔTc represents the
range of temperature over which liquid phase heat storage
material is stabilized without any heat loss resulting from
solidification. The activation caused by UV illumination on
the suspension results in the isomerization of dopants. The
stored heat can be released when the reverse isomerization
caused by optical triggering with visible light.
However, there are limitations related to use of UV radia-
tion that it will reduce the lifetime of organic and polymeric
PCMs and even damage biological components. This can be
resolved by investigating the materials that show visible or
infra-red (IR) light induced solid–liquid transitions. Moreo-
ver, further studies are needed to test the long-term stability
and reversibility of photo-switching composites to enable
their use in wide range of applications.
5.2 Cryogenic treatment of PCMs
The cryogenic treatment of PCMs is another approach,
though it is applied to tool steels to enhance their properties,
it is a newly discovered strategy for improvement of PCM
properties. Trivedi et.al [118] adopted a novel approach of
cryogenically treating (treating with liquid nitrogen (­ N2) at
− 192°C) followed by cyclic cryogenic and heat treatment
of the microencapsulated PCM consisting an organic ester
PCM with melamine formaldehyde as the shell material.
From their investigations it was found that the treated PCM
exhibited the significant increase in latent heat capacity, that
is, 60.7 kJ/kg as opposed to that of 39.8 kJ/kg(unconditioned
PCM). The PCMs maintained good thermal and chemical
stabilities as well after treatment.
6 Conclusion and future scope of work
This review provides the useful insights about the state-of-
art research in the field of PCMs. The following conclusions
are drawn from this review.
1. PCMs such as microPCM incorporation into wood and
preparation of PCMs from tree fruit oils can address the
issue of environmental problems associated with con-
ventional ones.
Page 13 of 17 6
2. The novel approaches such as optical control of PCMs
by doping them with azobenzene dopants and cyclic cry-
ogenic treatment by liquid nitrogen can be most prom-
ising methods to improve the properties and long-term
storage capacity of PCMs.
3. The potential of phase change slurries to serve the two
purposes, one as a thermal storage medium and the other
as a heat transfer fluid can effectively improve the ther-
mal performance of PV/T systems.
4. The solid–solid PCMs such as polyalcohols can achieve
shape-stability without encapsulation and possess high
enthalpies.
The future research should focus on
1. Hybrid PCMs that can be utilized for both electric and
thermal applications.
2. Composite PCMs for solar-to-thermal energy storage.
3. The appropriate methods to investigate possible degra-
dation mechanisms of PCMs for use in long-term energy
storage applications.
4. Fabrication of microcapsules with hybrid shells strong
enough to store higher thermal energy with long-term
storage capacity.
5. The photo-thermal effect of PCMs encapsulated with
nanoparticle coatings to develop materials for sustain-
able energy applications such as heat loss reduction in
commercial buildings.
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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