Issue 39, 2015

High-energy, stable and recycled molecular solar thermal storage materials using AZO/graphene hybrids by optimizing hydrogen bonds

Abstract

An important method for establishing a high-energy, stable and recycled molecular solar heat system is by designing and preparing novel photo-isomerizable molecules with a high enthalpy and a long thermal life by controlling molecular interactions. A meta- and ortho-bis-substituted azobenzene chromophore (AZO) is covalently grafted onto reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for solar thermal storage materials. High grafting degree and close-packed molecules enable intermolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) for both trans-(E) and cis-(Z) isomers of AZO on the surface of nanosheets, resulting in a dramatic increase in enthalpy and lifetime. The metastable Z-form of AZO on RGO is thermally stabilized with a half-life of 52 days by steric hindrance and intermolecular H-bonds calculated using density functional theory (DFT). The AZO–RGO fuel shows a high storage capacity of 138 Wh kg−1 by optimizing intermolecular H-bonds with a good cycling stability for 50 cycles induced by visible light at 520 nm. Our work opens up a new method for making advanced molecular solar thermal storage materials by tuning molecular interactions on a nano-template.

Graphical abstract: High-energy, stable and recycled molecular solar thermal storage materials using AZO/graphene hybrids by optimizing hydrogen bonds

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 May 2015
Accepted
28 Jul 2015
First published
06 Aug 2015

Nanoscale, 2015,7, 16214-16221

High-energy, stable and recycled molecular solar thermal storage materials using AZO/graphene hybrids by optimizing hydrogen bonds

W. Luo, Y. Feng, C. Qin, M. Li, S. Li, C. Cao, P. Long, E. Liu, W. Hu, K. Yoshino and W. Feng, Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 16214 DOI: 10.1039/C5NR03558A

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