Performance enhancement with inorganic phase change materials for the application of thermal energy storage: A critical review

In the current energy crisis, energy saving becomes important to reduce the gap of supply and demand of energy. Phase change material (PCM) plays a bigger role to store energy due to its high latent of fusion. The present article provides an insight into the present developments in enhancing the performance of inorganic PCMs. In this article, a comprehensive review of different techniques like mixing of different salts, addition of nanoparticle, addition of nucleating agents, encapsulation methods and so on are discussed in detail. Special attention is given to know the enhancement in high thermal conductivity, large phase change enthalpy, high density, thermal stability, corrosion resistance and so on.