I-Corps: Translation Potential of Nano-carbon-enhanced Optimizable Phase Change Materials

This I-Corps project focuses on the development of advanced phase change materials designed to improve energy efficiency and temperature control in insulated packaging and environments where thermal regulation is essential. Inefficient temperature management leads to substantial energy waste and increased operational costs. The need for better temperature control affects a broad range of industries, including residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and supply chain logistics sectors. Energy use for heating and cooling accounts for a significant portion of total energy consumption globally. Existing phase change material solutions often suffer from poor thermal properties, limited operation, and lack of adaptability to specific applications. This technology addresses these shortcomings by enabling more precise and efficient temperature stabilization through the efficient storage and release of energy. The materials are designed to effectively absorb excess heat when temperatures rise and release stored heat when temperatures fall, significantly reducing the energy burden on heating, cooling, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. By improving how thermal energy is managed, this technology has the potential to reduce energy consumption and enhance comfort, safety, and resilience. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of nano-engineered phase change materials with enhanced thermal conductivity, heat storage capacity, and structural stability. Functionalized carbon nanostructures were synthesized and incorporated into selected base phase change materials to function as thermally conductive and chemically interactive scaffolds, yielding composite systems with enhanced latent heat storage, accelerated thermal response, and improved structural integrity. Conventional phase change materials are often constrained by low intrinsic thermal conductivity, limited enthalpy of transition, and mechanical degradation under cyclic thermal loading. In contrast, these phase change material composites demonstrate enhanced phonon transport pathways, enhanced heat storage capacity, and morphological stability during repetitive phase transitions. The core innovation lies in the tailored interfacial interactions between the carbon-based nanomaterials and the phase change molecules, which facilitate efficient thermal energy transfer, activate additional heat storage modes in the composite matrix, and mitigate material fatigue over extended operational lifespans. This approach also allows the optimization of the thermal properties of the composites by tuning different chemical interactions. Broad deployment of these advanced composites offers substantial reductions in energy consumption, extended device lifetimes, and increased system-level thermal efficiency, with measurable economic benefits across sectors demanding high-performance thermal regulation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.