An Intelligent, Solar‐Responsive, and Thermally Conductive Phase‐Change System Toward Solar‐Thermal‐Electrical Conversion Featuring Daytime Blooming for Solar Energy Harvesting and Nighttime Closing for Thermal Preservation

Abstract To alleviate resource shortage and environmental pollution, solar energy can be converted into thermal energy stored in phase change materials and in turn generate electrical energy. To enhance the solar energy utilization efficiency of solar‐thermal‐electrical conversion devices and prevent the heat loss to the environment at night, an intelligent solar‐responsive phase‐change system is innovatively designed consisting of a graphene aerogel film/paraffin wax stamen with an ultra‐high thermal conductivity of 46.7 W m −1 K −1 , and thermally preserving aerogel film/liquid crystal elastomer bilayer petals that can bend solar‐responsively by the synergistic effect of solar‐thermal energy conversion and heat‐induced contraction. The solar‐responsive phase‐change system achieves daytime blooming for solar‐thermal conversion with simultaneous energy storage and nighttime closing for minimizing heat loss to the environment, exhibiting a high solar‐thermal conversion and energy storage efficiency of 89.4% and delaying its temperature drop by the thermal preservation effect of the petals. The assembled solar‐responsive solar‐thermal‐electric generator can reach an output voltage of 1033.8 mV at a light intensity of 500 mW cm −2 and continue to generate electrical energy during nighttime, holding tremendous promise in efficient solar energy conversion, storage, and utilization.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2024-08-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202406236
Citations
32
Primary Topic
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
8.35

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

An Intelligent, Solar‐Responsive, and Thermally Conductive Phase‐Change System Toward Solar‐Thermal‐Electrical Conversion Featuring Daytime Blooming for Solar Energy Harvesting and Nighttime Closing for Thermal Preservation

Jing Wu, Xiao‐Hang Lu, Fu‐Lin Gao, Changjun Li et al.
32 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
8.35
article

An Intelligent, Solar‐Responsive, and Thermally Conductive Phase‐Change System Toward Solar‐Thermal‐Electrical Conversion Featuring Daytime Blooming for Solar Energy Harvesting and Nighttime Closing for Thermal Preservation

Jing Wu, Xiao‐Hang Lu, Fu‐Lin Gao, Changjun Li, Qianlong Wang, Chao Shu, Xin Wang, Zhong‐Zhen Yu, Yan Zhang, Xiaofeng Li, Haoyu Zhao
article en
32 citations

Abstract

Abstract To alleviate resource shortage and environmental pollution, solar energy can be converted into thermal energy stored in phase change materials and in turn generate electrical energy. To enhance the solar energy utilization efficiency of solar‐thermal‐electrical conversion devices and prevent the heat loss to the environment at night, an intelligent solar‐responsive phase‐change system is innovatively designed consisting of a graphene aerogel film/paraffin wax stamen with an ultra‐high thermal conductivity of 46.7 W m −1 K −1 , and thermally preserving aerogel film/liquid crystal elastomer bilayer petals that can bend solar‐responsively by the synergistic effect of solar‐thermal energy conversion and heat‐induced contraction. The solar‐responsive phase‐change system achieves daytime blooming for solar‐thermal conversion with simultaneous energy storage and nighttime closing for minimizing heat loss to the environment, exhibiting a high solar‐thermal conversion and energy storage efficiency of 89.4% and delaying its temperature drop by the thermal preservation effect of the petals. The assembled solar‐responsive solar‐thermal‐electric generator can reach an output voltage of 1033.8 mV at a light intensity of 500 mW cm −2 and continue to generate electrical energy during nighttime, holding tremendous promise in efficient solar energy conversion, storage, and utilization.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 34(45)
Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
8.35
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.