Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Phase Change Materials
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G2: Phase Change Materials for Energy Storage".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2026 | Viewed by 188
Editors
Interests: phase change materials; thermal energy storage; heat transfer enhancement; porous materials; magnetic–thermal conversion composite phase change materials
Interests: composite phase change materials; heat transfer enhancement; thermal management; energy storage
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on addressing one of the most critical challenges in phase change material (PCM) research—thermal conductivity enhancement. Phase change materials have emerged as revolutionary thermal energy storage and management solutions due to their unique ability to store and release large amounts of latent heat during phase transition while maintaining nearly constant temperature. These materials have increasingly important applications across diverse fields, including battery thermal management for electric vehicles, building energy efficiency, solar energy storage, electronic device cooling, and aerospace thermal control.
Despite their significant advantages in thermal energy storage density, organic PCMs in particular suffer from inherently low thermal conductivity (typically 0.2-0.3 W/m·K), which severely limits their heat transfer efficiency and practical application potential. This fundamental limitation results in slow thermal response rates, reduced energy storage/release efficiency, and constrained performance in high-power thermal management scenarios. The growing demand for efficient thermal management solutions across various industries has accelerated research into innovative approaches for enhancing PCM thermal conductivity while maintaining their high energy storage capacity and cycling stability.
Recent advancements have demonstrated promising pathways through material composition engineering, structural design, and composite formation. The development of highly conductive porous scaffolds, nanomaterial additives, and hybrid composite structures has shown remarkable potential in overcoming the intrinsic thermal limitations of pure PCMs.
This Special Issue aims to consolidate the latest breakthroughs in this rapidly evolving field and provide a platform for sharing cutting-edge research that addresses both fundamental challenges and practical applications.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Novel high-thermal-conductivity porous scaffolds for PCM composites (metal foams, carbon materials, graphene aerogels);
- Nanomaterial additives for thermal enhancement (nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibers);
- Hybrid and multidimensional thermal enhancement strategies;
- Microencapsulated PCMs with enhanced thermal properties;
- Advanced manufacturing techniques for PCM composites (3D printing, thermal compression, vacuum impregnation);
- Theoretical and computational studies of heat transfer in enhanced PCMs;
- Characterization techniques for thermal performance evaluation;
- Applications in battery thermal management, building efficiency, electronic cooling, and aerospace systems;
- Multifunctional PCM composites combining thermal enhancement with shape stability, flame retardancy, or flexibility;
- Life cycle assessment and durability studies of enhanced PCM composites.
Dr. Changda Nie
Dr. Peizhao Lyu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- phase change materials
- thermal conductivity
- latent heat
- nanomaterials
- porous materials
- latent thermal storage
- thermal management
- thermal energy storage
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