A team of materials scientists has developed a new bio based carbon material that can store thermal energy more efficiently while preventing one of the most persistent problems in phase change materials leakage during melting. The study demonstrates how carbon derived from chitin, a natural polymer found in crustacean shells and fungi, can stabilize heat storing compounds and improve their performance for energy applications.
Phase change materials store and release heat as they melt and solidify, making them attractive for applications such as building temperature regulation, solar energy storage, and electronic thermal management. However, many organic phase change materials suffer from leakage when they melt, which limits their practical use and durability.
In the new research, published in Sustainable Carbon Materials, scientists transformed chitin into an ultralight aerogel and then carbonized it to create a porous carbon framework. This carbon aerogel was used to encapsulate stearic acid, a widely studied organic phase change material, forming a shape stabilized composite that remains solid even when the stearic acid melts.
"Our goal was to design a low cost and environmentally friendly support that can hold large amounts of phase change material without leakage," said corresponding author Hui Li. "Chitin is abundant, renewable, and naturally rich in nitrogen, which makes it especially attractive for this purpose."
The chitin derived carbon aerogel features an interconnected pore structure and a very large pore volume. These pores provide space to hold molten stearic acid, while strong capillary forces and hydrogen bonding interactions prevent it from flowing out. As a result, the composite material can contain up to sixty percent stearic acid by weight without any visible leakage.
Thermal testing showed that the material achieved a high thermal storage density, with a melting enthalpy of about 118 joules per gram. This value is significantly higher than many previously reported biomass derived phase change composites. The material also showed improved thermal conductivity compared with pure stearic acid, allowing heat to be absorbed and released more efficiently.
Another key advantage is durability. After one hundred heating and cooling cycles, the composite maintained nearly the same phase change temperature and retained more than ninety seven percent of its original heat storage capacity. Structural and chemical analyses confirmed that the material remained stable throughout repeated use.
"Long term reliability is essential for real world energy storage systems," said Hui Li. "Our results show that this chitin based carbon aerogel can repeatedly store and release heat without structural degradation."
The researchers also found that the carbon aerogel increased the activation energy required for stearic acid to undergo phase change, which indicates improved thermal stability. This effect is linked to nanoscale confinement within the pores and hydrogen bonding between the nitrogen doped carbon surface and the stearic acid molecules.
Because chitin can be sourced from seafood waste, the approach offers a promising route to turn biological byproducts into high value functional materials. The team believes the strategy could be extended to other phase change materials and tailored for different temperature ranges.
"This work shows how sustainable carbon materials can address both energy efficiency and environmental concerns," Hui Li said. "It opens new possibilities for greener thermal energy storage technologies in buildings, electronics, and renewable energy systems."
The study highlights how combining natural polymers with advanced materials design can lead to practical solutions for energy challenges while reducing reliance on fossil based resources.
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Journal reference: Li H, Wang J, Kong L, Guo H, Xiao Q, et al. 2025. Chitin aerogel-derived carbon for shape-stabilized phase change materials with enhanced thermal energy storage. Sustainable Carbon Materials 1: e010
https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/scm-0025-0010
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About Sustainable Carbon Materials :
Sustainable Carbon Materials is a multidisciplinary platform for communicating advances in fundamental and applied research on carbon-based materials. It is dedicated to serving as an innovative, efficient and professional platform for researchers in the field of carbon materials around the world to deliver findings from this rapidly expanding field of science. It is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes review, original research, invited review, rapid report, perspective, commentary and correspondence papers.
