Fatty amines as a new family of organic phase change materials with exceptionally high energy density

The development of phase change materials (PCMs) with high energy density is of great importance for thermal or solar energy storage. Here, we report for the first time the exploitation of fatty amines (FAs) as a new family of organic PCMs with the latent heat in the range of 260–437 kJ kg−1, which is one of the highest values for organic PCMs reported to date. With low supercooling degree (<10 °C) and a phase transition temperature of 25.8–71.6 °C, FAs are particularly suitable for thermal or solar energy storage at ambient conditions. Based on the plentiful chemistry of amino groups of FAs, we also prepared form-stable PCMs composites with enhanced FAs uptake due to the strong electrostatic interaction between amino groups of FAs and –SO3H groups of supporting materials, providing a new and versatile route to the construction of FAs-based PCMs composites for renewable and sustainable energy saving systems.