Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Controllable thermal storage has emerged as a central theme in advanced energy management, where external stimuli such as light, stress, and pressure can be exploited to precisely regulate heat release. Yet, realizing efficient and practical deployment requires the development of simpler non-contact actuation methods and the enhancement of heat-transfer efficiency, both of which remain major challenges. Here, we present a magnetically controlled phase-change composite by integrating a supercooled plastic crystal, 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol (AMP), with dispersed NdFeB particles. This design enables non-contact triggering of supercooled phase transitions under ultra-low magnetic fields as small as ~0.04 T, nearly two orders of magnitude lower than those required for state-of-the-art magnetocaloric materials. Meanwhile, the dispersed magnetic particles enhance thermal conduction and promote synchronous multipoint crystallization, thereby markedly accelerating heat release. The optimized 20% AMP/NdFeB composite achieves a colossal entropy change of 507.6 J/kg/K and a rapid temperature rise of ~47.6 K, substantially outperforming leading magnetocaloric systems under far milder field conditions. This work establishes a transformative and generalizable route to non-contact, high-efficiency, and controllable thermal batteries, paving the way for their practical deployment in advanced energy systems.
Source: Small Science
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,350
OpenAlex ID: W4417280902