As a class of thermal energy-storage materials, phase change materials (PCMs) play an important role in sustainable development of economy and society with a rapid increase in energy demand. Microencapsulation of solid–liquid PCMs has been recognized as a vital technology to protect them from leakage and running off and to give them a shape stability in the liquid state to offer the ease of handling and thus received tremendous attention from fundamental studies to industrial development in recent decades. Aiming to provide the most complete and reliable source of information on recent progress and current development in microencapsulated PCMs, this review focuses on methodologies and technologies for the encapsulation of PCMs with a variety of wall materials from traditional organic polymers to novel inorganic materials to pursue high encapsulation efficiency, excellent thermal energy-storage performance and long-term operation durability. We attempt to clearly summarize the selection of core and wall materials, synthetic methods, formation mechanisms and characteristic performance of microencapsulated PCMs to help scientists better understand their design principles and synthetic mechanisms. This review also highlights the diverse design of bi- and multi-functional PCM-based microcapsules by fabricating various functional shells in a multilayered or hierarchical structure to provide a great potential to meet the growing demand for versatile applications. We also provide insights on the future research and development direction of microencapsulated PCMs with multifunctional applications in energy efficiency, sustainable processes, high-tech energy management and specific physicochemical effectiveness.

Innovative design of microencapsulated phase change materials for thermal energy storage and versatile applications: a review

Phase change materials (PCMs) are gaining increasing attention and becoming popular in the thermal energy storage field. Microcapsules enhance thermal and mechanical performance of PCMs used in thermal energy storage by increasing the heat transfer area and preventing the leakage of melting materials. Nowadays, a large number of studies about PCM microcapsules have been published to elaborate their benefits in energy systems. In this paper, a comprehensive review has been carried out on PCM microcapsules for thermal energy storage. Five aspects have been discussed in this review: classification of PCMs, encapsulation shell materials, microencapsulation techniques, PCM microcapsules’ characterizations, and thermal applications. This review aims to help the researchers from various fields better understand PCM microcapsules and provide critical guidance for utilizing this technology for future thermal energy storage.

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Phase Change Material (PCM) Microcapsules for Thermal Energy Storage

In the development of renewable energies, thermal energy storage (TES) has become a key opportunity to relieve to some extent the increase in energy demand and supply. The past two decades have seen increasingly advances in the field of phase change materials (PCM) as latent heat storage systems, being one concern their containment when using solid to liquid PCM. The purpose of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art of shape-stabilization (SS-PCM) and encapsulation (CS-PCM) of organic PCMs for low thermal applications (

Xun Yan

Papers

Preparation and characterization of PMMA/TiO2 hybrid shell microencapsulated PCMs for thermal energy storage