Putting a damp towel over one’s head in the sweltering summer heat is a common remedy. As a substance changes from one state of matter to another, such as solid, liquid, or gas, phase-change material emits or absorbs energy in the process.
A phase-change material that absorbs heat when evaporating, i.e. as it changes from liquid to gaseous form, water cools the moist towel
Due to a transition in society from fossil fuel to intermittent renewable energy sources, phase-change materials (PCMs) have become more popular in recent years.. To put it another way, due to a lack of sunshine at night and a fluctuation in wind speed, capturing energy is impossible. This necessitates the storage of energy for later use.
Despite the potential of PCM as a data storage medium, seemingly insurmountable technological obstacles have kept PCM from being widely used.
An in-depth study published in Nature Energy explains the one problem that has been solved with a simple approach. Energy-efficient heating and cooling may be achieved by increasing the usage of PCMs.
The quantity of energy that can be stored per unit volume and the pace at which that energy can be removed per unit mass are two of the most critical requirements for any thermal energy storage system.
Most systems either have a low energy density but a high power density or the exact opposite. Having high amounts of both is desired.