Phase change materials (PCMs) have been extensively characterized as constant temperature latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) materials. Nevertheless, the widespread utilization of PCMs is limited due to the flow of liquid PCMs during melting, phase separation, supercooling and low heat transfer rate. In order to overcome these inherent problems and to improve thermo-physical properties, the confinement of PCMs at the nanoscale has been identified as a versatile strategy, which ensures the encapsulation of PCMs in much smaller nano-containers. Such strategies including core–shell, longitudinal, interfacial and porous confinement have been widely presented in recent years to efficiently encapsulate PCMs in nanospaces and are presenting attractive ways to enhance thermal performance. This review summarizes the recent advancement and critical issues of nanoconfinement technologies of PCMs from the point of view of material design. In addition, the potential applications of nanoconfined PCMs in diverse fields, including energy conversion and storage, thermal rectification and temperature controlled drug delivery systems, are presented in detail. Finally, the major drawbacks associated with nanoconfined PCMs and their prospective solutions are also provided.

Nanoconfined phase change materials for thermal energy applications

Carbon-family materials for flame retardant polymeric materials

Infrared thermography (IRT) applications for building diagnostics: A review

Flame retardant polymeric nanocomposites through the combination of nanomaterials and conventional flame retardants

Phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy thermosets: Recent advances and future perspectives

In this paper, a novel graphene-based inorganic–organic hybrid flame retardant (GFR) was prepared via sol–gel reaction of FGO and phenyl-bis-(triethoxysilylpropyl) phosphamide (PBTP) and characterized by FT-IR, XPS, XRD, TGA and AFM. The influence of the GFR on the thermal stability and flame retardance of epoxy resin composites were characterized by TGA, LOI as well as micro-cone, which indicated that GFR brought a good effect in enhancing the residual char and flame retardance of epoxy composites. The dynamic mechanical properties and electrical properties of EP composites were also analyzed.

The synthesis of a novel graphene-based inorganic–organic hybrid flame retardant and its application in epoxy resin

Nanocomposites composed of magnetic and dielectric materials are suitable for high performance electromagnetic wave absorbers due to their great impedance matching. In this work, the microwave absorbing properties of Fe3O4 BaTiO3 composites were investigated over a frequency range of 1–18 GHz Fe3O4 BaTiO3 composites present significantly enhanced microwave absorption performance compared with BaTiO3. For the optimal Fe3O4(x) BaTiO3(1-x) (x = 0.8) composite, the reflection loss (RL) could reach −47.4 dB at 12.26 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.2 mm, the bandwidth below −10 dB is 5.0 GHz, which is six times higher than BaTiO3. The broadened absorption bandwidth is resulted from better impedance matching. This results show that Fe3O4 BaTiO3 composites can be used as an excellent microwave absorption materials with strong absorption and broad bandwidth.

Broadband microwave absorption of Fe3O4BaTiO3 composites enhanced by interfacial polarization and impedance matching

Preparation of a novel PEG composite with halogen-free flame retardant supporting matrix for thermal energy storage application

Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 composites were synthesized by a one-step method. The composition and their performances were modified by adjusting the concentration of Fe3+ (FeCl3·6H2O) in the precursor solution, effectively. Compared with single-phase Fe3O4 and Fe2O3, the effective microwave absorbing ability of Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 composites is much widened in the range 1–18 GHz, which could stem from the enhanced dipolar polarization and interfacial polarization due to lattice dislocations at the interface of Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3. The minimum reflection loss (RL) of Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 composites reaches about −43.1 dB at a thickness of 2.0 mm, with the effective absorption band reaching 3.4 GHz (9.8–13.2 GHz). In the thickness of 1.5–3.2 mm, the width of the RL reaches 9.9 GHz (3.5–13.4 GHz). The results demonstrate that Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 composites could be a candidate to be used as absorbers with the microwave absorption band much widened.

Synthesis and Electromagnetic and Microwave Absorption Properties of Monodispersive Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 Composites

A novel flame retardant poly(3-aminopropyl methylsiloxane bis(3-hydroxy phenyl spirocyclic pentaerythritol bisphosphate)) (PSBPBP) in combination with talc was blended into polycarbonate (PC) by melt compounding. The flame retardancy and thermal stability of PC/PSBPBP/talc composites were investigated by limiting oxygen index (LOI) test, UL-94 rating test, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy (RS), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The mechanical properties were also measured in this work. Increasing talc content leads to observed improvement on flame retardancy of PC composites. LOI value of PC/PSBPBP/10 wt % talc system was 34, and this system passed V0 rating in the UL-94 test. The char yield at 700°C was 28.2% and the onset decomposition temperature shifted up to 540°C for PC/10% PSBPBP/10% talc system in TGA. In the Raman measure, the R value and G linewidth of PC/PSBPBP with 10 wt % talc composite increased to 1.41 and 65 cm−1 from 1.12 and 43 cm−1 of pure PC, respectively. The Raman results suggest that the char residue of PC/PSBPBP with talc composites was denser and had better barrier property, which is agreement with the SEM results. Besides, talc had no remarkable influence on the mechanical properties of PC/PSBPBP composites. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

Jiping Liu

Papers

The synthesis of a novel graphene-based inorganic–organic hybrid flame retardant and its application in epoxy resin

Broadband microwave absorption of Fe3O4BaTiO3 composites enhanced by interfacial polarization and impedance matching

Preparation of a novel PEG composite with halogen-free flame retardant supporting matrix for thermal energy storage application

Synthesis and Electromagnetic and Microwave Absorption Properties of Monodispersive Fe3O4/α-Fe2O3 Composites

Effect of talc on thermal stability and flame retardancy of polycarbonate/PSBPBP composite