A Review of Composite Phase Change Materials Based on Biomass Materials

Phase change materials (PCMs) can store/release heat from/to the external environment through their own phase change, which can reduce the imbalance between energy supply and demand and improve the effective utilization of energy. Biomass materials are abundant in reserves, from a wide range of sources, and most of them have a natural pore structure, which is a good carrier of phase change materials. Biomass-based composite phase change materials and their derived ones are superior to traditional phase change materials due to their ability to overcome the leakage of phase change materials during solid–liquid change. This paper reviews the basic properties, phase change characteristics, and binding methods of several phase change materials (polyethylene glycols, paraffins, and fatty acids) that are commonly compounded with biomass materials. On this basis, it summarizes the preparation methods of biomass-based composite phase change materials, including porous adsorption, microencapsulation based on biomass shell, and grafting by copolymerization and also analyzes the characteristics of each method. Finally, the paper introduces the latest research progress of multifunctional biomass-based composite phase change materials capable of energy storage and outlines the challenges and future research and development priorities in this field.