Symposium EN04-Phase Change Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage

Phase transition in materials can be induced with external stimuli such as heat, light, pressure, and electric and magnetic fields. Phase Change materials (PCMs) therefore have applications in a wide range from sensors to information and energy storage and conversion. This symposium aims to bring different aspects and the multidisciplinary nature of PCM design and applications from theory to experiment together. Both solid-liquid and solid-solid transitions are of interest. PCMs are known for their capability of absorbing and releasing a large amount of thermal energy during phase transitions which have been utilized for thermal storage and heat management in buildings, batteries, and energy conversion technologies such as solar thermal, geothermal, ocean thermal, thermoelectric, and magnetocaloric. They are widely used to minimize energy consumption (e.g., to stabilize the indoor temperature within buildings) or facilitate thermal transport (e.g., micro-encapsulated PCM slurry for enhanced convective cooling). In the context of electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, a stable temperature range is essential to maximize the capacity and lifespan of the materials in the devices. For example, lithium-ion batteries run at an optimum operating temperature range of 20-50 °C. PCMs with a phase change temperature at this temperature range, such as paraffins, hydrates, and composite materials have been tested and exhibited better heat management compared with forced air convection or conventional coolant. In the context of thermoelectrics, several known phase change materials have shown excellent thermoelectric properties. GeTe is an example of this category where the metavalent nature of the bonds is proposed to be related to both the phase change and the excellent thermoelectric properties. Thermally-induced phase change in FeRh is shown to result in large changes in the Seebeck coefficient and hence an extremely large Thomson coefficient is reported in this material which can be used for the design of Thomson coolers and power generators.

In this symposium, attention will be given to fundamental physics, material design, and the applications of PCMs in energy-related fields, which can help to reduce CO₂ emissions in the long term. This symposium further extends the topics to cover the latest research on novel thermophysical properties of PCM and advanced thermal characterization tools.

Topics will include:

Phase change materials for thermal energy storage
Phase change materials for solar thermal energy conversion
Phase change materials in conjunction with thermal to electrical energy conversion, hybrid device design
Phase change materials as good thermoelectrics both in having a large thermoelectric and thermomagnetic figure of merit and or in exhibiting a large Thomson coefficient.
Single crystal to single crystal phase transition: properties, applications, and structure change studies
Single crystal to amorphous phase transition: properties, applications, and structure change studies
Ferroelectric Phase Transition enabling pyroelectric modules
Advanced thermal and material characterization tools to study the phase transition

Invited Speakers:

Seunghyun Baik (Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea)
Keivan Esfarjani (University of Virginia, USA)
Patrick Hopkins (University of Virginia, USA)
Seung Hwan Ko (Seoul National University, Republic of Korea)
Sang-Kwon Lee (Chung-Ang University, Republic of Korea)
Peiwen Li (University of Arizona, USA)
Y. Shirley Meng (The University of Chicago, USA)
Takao Mori (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan)
Rahul Rao (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA)
Sheng Shen (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Robert Simpson (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Kenichi Uchida (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan)
Haiyan Wang (Perdue University, USA)
Robert Wang (Arizona State University, USA)
Mary Anne White (Dalhousie University, Canada)
Junqiao Wu (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Matthias Wuttig (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany)
Ronggui Yang (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China)