New materials for the recovery and storage of thermal energy

\nA significant fraction of the energy generated for industrial and domestic applications is lost in the form of heat. Because of this, thermal-energy storage materials are receiving increasing attention as a means of storing the generated heat for later use. In this paper, a brief description is given of two types of materials used in thermal-energy-storage devices – phase change materials for latent heat storage and photoswitches for chemical energy storage. In addition, we provide a succint account of the experimental and computational tools needed to understand the microscopic mechanisms of energy storage and to facilitate the rational design of new materials.\n