Experimental and numerical investigations of mesophase pitch-based carbon foam used for thermal conductivity enhancement of paraffinic phase change materials

Phase change material (PCM) has great application value in the field of thermal energy storage systems and thermal management. However, organic PCM has inherent defects such as low thermal conductivity, easy leakage, and thermal response hysteresis, which seriously restrict its application. Mesophase pitch-based carbon foam (MPCF) can be used to synthesize phase change composite materials (PCCM) for thermal conductivity enhancement, which can solve the above problems effectively. This paper presents the preparation of a series of high thermal conductivity MPCF using the high-pressure foaming method. The thermal conductivity of the MPCF reached 186.2 W/(m·K). The relationship between thermal conductivity and structure was explored. A modified GAUSS model was established with the help of finite element modeling to analyze the structural influences on thermal conductivity, and an optimized empirical equation for predicting thermal conductivity was further proposed. Moreover, an efficient enhancement in thermal conductivity and adsorption of paraffin were achieved by using the PCCM, which shows its great potential in the field of thermal energy storage systems and thermal management. [Display omitted] •A series of MPCF with high thermal conductivity (186.2 W/(m·K)) were prepared by high-pressure foaming method.•A modified GAUSS model was established through FEM to analyze the structural influences on thermal conductivity of MPCF.•An optimized empirical equation was proposed for predicting thermal conductivity of MPCF.•An enhancement of PCM in thermal conductivity (44.9 W/(m·K) at least) were achieved.