Barocaloric thermal batteries

Zhe Zhang; Kuo Li; Shangchao Lin; Dehong Yu; Ruiqi Song; Yida Wang; Jingfan Wang; Shogo Kawaguchi; Zhao Zhang; Chenyang Yu; Xiaodong Li; Jie Chen; Lunhua He; Richard Mole; Bao Yuan; Qingyong Ren; Kun Qian; Zhuangli Cai; Jingui Yu; Mingchao Wang; Changying Zhao; Xin Tong; Zhidong Zhang; Bing Li

arXiv · 2103.04348

Barocaloric thermal batteries

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Abstract

Nowadays the world is facing a prominent paradox regarding thermal energy. The production of heat accounts for more than 50% of global final energy consumption while the waste heat potential analysis reveals that 72% of the global primary energy consumption is lost after conversion mainly in the form of heat. Towards global decarbonization, it is of vital importance to establish a solution to thermal energy utilization under full control. Here, we propose and realize an unprecedented concept -- barocaloric thermal batteries based on the inverse colossal barocaloric effect of NH4SCN. Thermal charging is initialized upon pressurization through an order-to-disorder phase transition below 364 K and in turn the discharging of 43 J g-1, which are eleven times more than the input mechanical energy, occurs on demand at depressurization at lower temperatures. The discharging is also manifested as a directly measured temperature rise of 12 K. The thermodynamic equilibrium nature of the pressure-restrained heat-carrying phase guarantees stable storage and/or transport over a variety of temporal and/or spatial scales. The barocaloric thermal batteries reinforced by their solid microscopic mechanism are expected to significantly advance the ability to take advantage of waste heat.

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Zhe Zhang, Kuo Li, Shangchao Lin, Dehong Yu, Ruiqi Song, Yida Wang, Jingfan Wang, Shogo Kawaguchi, Zhao Zhang, Chenyang Yu, Xiaodong Li, Jie Chen, Lunhua He, Richard Mole, Bao Yuan, Qingyong Ren, Kun Qian, Zhuangli Cai, Jingui Yu, Mingchao Wang, Changying Zhao, Xin Tong, Zhidong Zhang, Bing Li. 2021-03-07. Barocaloric thermal batteries. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.04348

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