Development of theoretical and numerical models to expound the thermal behavior of nanocomposite phase-change materials

Phase-change materials (PCMs) are a revolutionary area of materials research and have gained rapid popularity over the last few years due to their ability to absorb, store and release large amounts of latent heat over a defined temperature range. At present, it is quite common to prepare composite phase-change materials (PCMs) to enhance their thermal performance.

The researchers looking to use these composite phase change materials often have to conduct their own time-consuming and costly experiments to confirm the suitability of these materials for the desired application. This inefficient process is mainly due to the lack of theoretical or numerical models that can readily be used to predict the final properties of composite PCMs.

Considering the numerous variations in properties and effects and the distinct requirements for an individual application, it would be beneficial to understand and predict the property outcomes of these final composite PCMs.

Understanding the thermal behavior of the composite PCMs is vital to enhance the thermal properties of composite PCMs and then to synthesize and utilize them for the desired applications. The key thermal properties of composite PCMs depends on factors such as interfacial properties, chemistry and the vibrational modes/phonon propagation through the materials, mass fraction, dispersion and dimensionality of the filling nanomaterial.

These factors combinedly affect the thermal properties, and it is essential to understand these effects to synthesize composite PCMs according to the given thermal/energy-related application.

This research aims to develop theoretical and numerical models to enhance the understanding of the thermal behavior of composite PCMs and validate the models through experimental evaluations of the thermal properties. It is expected to experimentally synthesize composite PCMs, and then to extract thermal properties through state-of-the-art techniques.

These details can then be used in developing and refining theoretical and numerical models to satisfactorily and realistically predict the thermal behavior of composite PCMs with an emphasis on the selected applications.