A new way to store thermal energy

MIT researchers create material for a chemical heat “battery” that could release its energy on demand.

In large parts of the developing world, people have abundant heat from the sun during the day, but most cooking takes place later in the evening when the sun is down, using fuel — such as wood, brush or dung — that is collected with significant time and effort.

Now, a new chemical composite developed by researchers at MIT could provide an alternative. It could be used to store heat from the sun or any other source during the day in a kind of thermal battery, and it could release the heat when needed, for example for cooking or heating after dark.

The new system uses molecular switches that change shape in response to light; when integrated into the phase change material (PCM), the phase-change temperature of the hybrid material can be adjusted with light, allowing the thermal energy of the phase change to be maintained even well below the melting point of the original material.

Read more at MIT

Image Credit: Melanie Gonick/MIT

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