A novel kapok fiber aerogel based phase change materials with high thermal conductivity and efficient energy storage for photovoltaic thermal management

In response to the evolving energy crisis and environmental changes, solar photovoltaic systems are progressively emerging as common substitutes to fossil fuels. However, the substantial heat accumulation on the surface of photovoltaic panels significantly impacts their photoelectric performance. Consequently, effective thermal management solutions are essential to address these key issues. In this study, a novel composite phase change material (TD@CKF-PVA) was designed. It utilizes a three-dimensional network structure constructed from cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and kapok fiber (KF) as the scaffold, and 1-tetradecanol (TD) as the phase change material. This composite material exhibits excellent thermal conductivity of 0.93 W/mK and efficient thermal energy storage capacity of 204 J/g. The coating of carbon nanotubes on KF provides additional thermal pathways, significantly enhancing the thermal conductivity of the phase change composite material. TD@CKF-PVA phase change materials also demonstrate outstanding thermal management capabilities in both time and space dimensions, effectively reducing the heat accumulation on solar photovoltaic panels and improving their output power and photoelectric efficiency. This work not only showcases the great potential of TD@CKF-PVA for thermal energy management but also provides an efficient approach to dissipating heat from PV panels.