Design and preparation of salt hydrate/ graphene oxide@SiO2/ SiC composites for efficient solar thermal utilization

Efficient solar thermal utilization has attracted extensive attention because it effectively alleviates carbon dioxide emissions and environmental pollution. Phase-change material (PCM) energy storage technology has been regarded as the most promising in improving its efficiency. Toward higher energy utilization efficiency, how to realize conversion and storage of solar energy into PCM is becoming progressively important. Herein, we developed low-cost and stable sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT, salt hydrate PCM) with ultra-fast solar energy charging efficiency by integrating photothermal and thermal conductivity materials. Specifically, a graphene [email protected]2 (GS) nanocomposite fabricated by a novel modified Stober method was employed as the nucleating agent and photothermal conversion enhancers for SAT. The supercooling degree of SAT can be reduced to 0.5 °C from 32.0 °C with the addition of 1.0 wt% GS, while the solar energy charging efficiency of SAT was increased by 92.5% when it is synergistically augmented by integrating GS and silicon carbide (SiC) foam. This study results indicate that the prepared SAT-GS-SiC composite with an enthalpy of 193.2 J/g can be potentially used to efficiently utilize solar energy.