Nanomaterial-Based PCM Composites for Thermal Energy Storage in Buildings

Abstract

Energy efficiency in buildings is a vital factor to be addressed in every stages of development of building envelopes, since buildings consume almost one-third to one-quarter of energy being produced globally. In the spectrum of techniques available to cater the building cooling and heating load demands, there has been a continuous quest toward latent thermal energy storage (LTES) systems for achieving energy redistribution requirements in buildings. The interesting fact about the LTES systems relies on the phase change materials (PCMs) being used to store and release heat energy depending upon the thermal load demand. A step ahead, the utilization of nanomaterials paves the way for accomplishing enhanced thermal performance of such PCMs on a long run. This chapter is exclusively dedicated to provide better understanding of a variety of nanomaterial-based PCM composites for thermal energy storage and energy efficiency in buildings. This is an ever-growing as well as emerging field of interest to wide scientific and engineering communities globally. The nucleus of this chapter is focused on the enhancement of thermal energy storage capabilities of NanoPCM composites which would contribute for achieving improved energy efficiency in buildings.