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Plastic Crystal Neopentyl Glycol/Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Composites for Highly Efficient Barocaloric Refrigeration System

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Abstract

Plastic crystal neopentyl glycol (NPG) exhibits colossal barocaloric effect with high entropy changes. However, their application is restricted in several aspects, such as low thermal conductivity, substantial supercooling effect, and poor springback properties. In this work, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with ultra-high thermal conductivity and high mechanical strength were selected for performance enhancement of NPG. The optimal mixing ratio was determined to be NPG with 3 wt% MWCNTs composites, which showed a 6 K reduction in supercooling without affecting the phase change enthalpy. Subsequently, comprehensive performance of the composites with optimal mixing ratio was compared with pure NPG. At 40 MPa, 390 J·K−1·kg−1 change in entropy and 9.9 K change in temperature were observed. Furthermore, the minimum driving pressure required to achieve reversible barocaloric effect was reduced by 19.2%. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the composite was increased by approximately 28%, significantly reducing the heat exchange time during a barocaloric refrigeration cycle. More importantly, ultra-high pressure release rate resulted in a 73.7% reduction in the springback time of the composites, offering new opportunities for the recovery of expansion work.

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Abbreviations

C p :

specific heat capacity/J·kg−1·K−1

H :

enthalpy/J·g−1

MWCNTs:

multi-walled carbon nanotubes

NPG:

neopentyl glycol

p :

operating pressure/MPa

Q :

amount of heat/J

R :

refrigeration capacity/W

S :

specific entropy/J·kg−1·K−1

T :

temperature/K

x :

transformed fraction on the phase change

Δ:

difference

BCE:

barocaloric effect

t:

phase change

0:

reference initial temperature

1:

phase change onset temperature

2:

phase change offset temperature

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this work is supported by the Basic Research Program of Frontier Leading Technologies in Jiangsu Province (BK20202008), the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX23 0240), the key research and demonstration projects of future low-carbon emission buildings (No. BE2022606), Hebei Natural Science Foundation (No. E2022210022), Science and Technology Project of Hebei Education Department (No. BJK2022056) and the Introduction Program of Oversea Talents of Hebei Province (No. C20220505).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy & Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Zhaofeng Dai, Xiaosong Zhang & Dongliang Zhao

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, Shijiazhuang, 050043, China

    Xiaohui She

  3. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Bohan Shao & Ershuai Yin

  4. Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Yulong Ding & Yongliang Li

Authors
  1. Zhaofeng Dai
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  2. Xiaohui She
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  3. Bohan Shao
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  4. Ershuai Yin
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  5. Yulong Ding
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Correspondence to Xiaosong Zhang or Dongliang Zhao.

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DING Yulong is an editorial board member for Journal of Thermal Science and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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Plastic Crystal Neopentyl Glycol/Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Composites for Highly Efficient Barocaloric Refrigeration System

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Dai, Z., She, X., Shao, B. et al. Plastic Crystal Neopentyl Glycol/Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Composites for Highly Efficient Barocaloric Refrigeration System. J. Therm. Sci. 33, 383–393 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1891-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1891-y

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