2026/06/01 by Zhucheng Jiang, Fei Zhang, Linghang Wang +3 · 1 voice
Engineering · Energy · #Phase Change Materials Research #Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems #Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
paper · doi:10.1002/agt2.70369
openalex publication_date 2026/06/01 · openalex created_date 2026/06/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/04
ABSTRACT Portable phase‐change composite (PCC) materials with rapid heat storage and leakage suppression capabilities are crucial for heating supply and temperature regulation under complex environmental conditions; however, their development remains challenging. Inspired by the serial multi‐chamber water‐retention architecture of Sphagnum , a polyimide/MXene/etched zeolitic imidazolate framework‐8 phase‐change energy storage composite platform (sPMZ) was designed. The biomimetic hierarchical porous architecture, featuring aligned microcavities and nanopores, generated multiscale capillary forces that effectively suppress phase‐change material leakage, enabling a paraffin loading of 85.3% while maintaining structural integrity over repeated thermal charging–discharging cycles. The incorporation of the biomimetic architecture increased the specific surface area of the sPMZ platform by 1198%, enhanced the thermal conductivity of the resulting PCC prepared by paraffin impregnation into sPMZ by 43.7%, and delivered a melting enthalpy of 119.5 J·g −1 with a relative enthalpy efficiency of 94.6%. In addition, the photothermal conversion efficiency attained 90.7%. Through photothermal conversion measurements, practical irradiation assessments, and integrated control of energy storage and heat dissipation, the feasibility and tunability of the Sphagnum ‐inspired strategy were validated, paving the way for developing portable thermal storage devices with rapid heat charging and suppressed leakage.