Solar Thermal Management Materials

Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has built houses to sustain comfortable living conditions throughout the seasons. In our modern society, about 50% of the total energy consumption is used for heating and cooling. Growing demands for thermal management in many different sectors, from electronics to housing, inevitably mean increased energy consumption. The primary source of heat is coming from the combustion of fossil, bio or waste-based feedstocks, all contributing to carbon emissions.

In this lecture I will present how we are working on developing materials that capture, store, and release both solar and ambient heat without creating any emissions.

These solar thermal management materials are a unique combination of molecular photo-switches that capture and store solar energy, so-called MOST systems, that together with phase change materials (PCM) can contribute to thermal management. The two classes of materials operate at fundamentally different principles. The input of MOST system is photons, and the output is heat whereas PCM can absorb heat from the environment. By combining the two materials into one, we can harness and upgrade two of the most abundant renewable sources of energy on the planet: ambient heat and sunlight.

The talk will begin with introducing molecular synthesis and design principles, and then transition into materials function demonstrated in lab scale energy capture heat release as well heat to power devices.

Selected References:

• Wang, A. Roffey, R. Losantos, A. Lennartson, M. Jevric, A. U. Petersen, M. Quant, A. Dreos, Xi. Wen, D. Sampedro, K. Börjesson and K. Moth-Poulsen. Energy and Environmental Science, 2019, 12, 187-193. (cover)
• Mads Mansø, Anne Ugleholdt Petersen, Zhihang Wang, Paul Erhart, Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen, Kasper Moth-Poulsen Nature Communications 2018, 9:1945.
• Ambra Dreos, Karl Börjesson, Zhihang Wang, Anna Roffey, Zack Norwood, Duncan Kushnir and Kasper Moth-Poulsen Energy and Environmental Science 2017, 10, 728-734. (cover)
• Anne Ugleholdt Petersen, Anna I. Hofmann, Méritxell Fillols, Mads Mansø, Martyn Jevric, Zhihang Wang, Christopher J. Sumby, Christian Müller, Kasper Moth-Poulsen ” Advanced Science, 2019, 1900367.

• Zhao-Yang Zhang, Yixin He, Zhihang Wang, Jiale Xu, Mingchen Xie, Peng Tao, Deyang Ji, Kasper Moth-Poulsen, and Tao L J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 28, 12256–12264.

• Zhihang Wang, Paul Erhart, Tao Li, Zhao-Yang Zhang, Diego Sampedro, Zhiyu Hu, Hermann A. Wegner, Olaf Brummel, Jörg Libuda, Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen, Kasper Moth-Poulsen “Storing Energy with Molecular Photoisomers” Joule 5(12), 3116-3136, 2021

• Zakariaa Refaa, Anna Hofmann, Marcial Fernandez Castro, Jessica O. Hernandez, Zhihang Wang, Helen Hölzel, Jens Wenzel Andreasen, Kasper Moth-Poulsen, Angela Sasic Kalagasidis, “Thermo-optical performance of molecular solar thermal energy storage films” Applied Energy 2022

• Zhihang Wang, Zhenhua Wu, Zhiyu Hu, Jessica Orrego-Hernández, Erzhen Mu, Zhao-Yang Zhang, Martyn Jevric, Yang Liu, Xuecheng Fu, Fengdan Wang, Tao Li, and Kasper Moth-Poulsen ” Chip scale solar thermal electrical power generation” Cell Reports Physical Science 2022

Biography, Prof. Dr. Kasper Moth-Poulsen 

KMP studied organic chemistry at the University of Copenhagen where he obtained the Cand. Scient. (2003) and Ph.D. (2007) degrees. After the Ph.D. degree, he worked as a postdoc. in the Bjørnholm lab. In 2009, he continued his career at the College of Chemistry at U.C. Berkeley, where he worked with professors Rachel Segalman and Peter Vollhardt. In 2011 KMP was recruited to Chalmers University of Technology, as an assistant professor. In 2014 he was promoted to associate professor in 2017 to professor (bitr. prof.) and in 2019 full professor. Since 2020 KMP is the head of the division of applied chemistry at Chalmers. Since October 2021 KMP is awarded a professor position at the Catalan Institute of Advanced Studies (ICREA) and joins the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) as a professor.

KMP leads a research group of approximately 10 PhD students and post docs and a number of bachelors, masters and visiting students.

KMP associate editor of Journal of Materials Chemistry C, and Materials Advances. He has recieved several major grants and awards including Starting and Consolidator grants from ERC, Göran Gustafsson Prize in Chemistry from The Royal Swedish Academy of Science 2021, Norblad-Ekstrand Medal from the Swedish Chemical Society 2021, and the Arnbergska Prize from The Royal Swedish Academy of Science 2019.

KMP is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and an elected Member the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

KMP is active in several start-ups and spin-out companies including Con-Science AB, Solartes AB and NanoScientifica Scandinavica AB.

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