Innovative flexible multifunctional phase change materials for advanced battery thermal management

Phase change materials (PCM) offer significant advantages in battery thermal management (BTM) due to high energy storage, chemical stability, and zero-energy consumption. However, conventional PCM struggles to meet demands as power batteries increase in capacity, structural complexity, and integration. This paper analyzes BTM's functional requirements for PCM to enhance power battery performance under complex conditions, focusing on exploring the application potential of flexible multifunctional composite PCM (FMCPCM). By reviewing the implementation strategies and mechanisms for PCM flexibility and multifunctionality, and integrating the latest application cases of FMCPCM in BTM, this study proposes innovative material designs to optimize thermal management in advanced energy storage. Polymer-based and porous scaffold-based FMCPCMs show superior BTM applicability due to superior encapsulation, thermal stability, and flexibility. Through functional filler addition, chemical modification, and surface coating, FMCPCMs can achieve multifunctionality, effectively alleviating heat accumulation in batteries, prolonging temperature reduction time, preheating batteries, mitigating vibration hazards, and enhancing operational safety. In current BTM applications, FMCPCM has primarily demonstrated efficacy in flame-retardant, photothermal, and electrothermal conversion functions, while other potential applications remain underexplored. However, driven by the exponential growth of the global electric vehicle industry and the escalating demand for advanced thermal management solutions, FMCPCM exhibits substantial commercial potential.