Full-spectrum photo-thermal conversion enabled by plasmonic titanium carbide modified phase change microcapsules

Phase change materials (PCMs) have been considered one of the promising strategies to harvest the clean solar energy and convert to latent heat for storage (LHS). However, solar-thermal conversion efficiencies of most PCMs are poor ascribed to their low thermal conductivity, leakage issue, and poor solar radiation absorbability. This work presents a facile method for the fabrication of n-Eicosane@TiC/TiO2 composite microcapsules for the first time that exhibit outstanding full-spectrum solar energy absorption and enables excellent energy-storage capability of 99.31 % and 73.45 % photo-thermal conversion efficiency owing to localized surface plasmon resonance effect of the TiC. The composite microcapsules will offer a new paradigm for LHS technologies in direct solar collectors.