Helical carbon nanotubes filled phase change composites with reversible plasticity shape memory and photo-thermal conversion functions towards wide-temperature-range battery thermal management

Abstract

The rigidity of battery thermal management systems (BTMS) and harsh environments are the obstacles to the development of fast charging/discharging of lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a straightforward path is provided to solve the above dilemma by synthesizing styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene/paraffin wax/helical carbon nanotubes (SEBS/PW/HCNTs). 2D wide-angle X-ray diffraction demonstrated that the PW solid skeleton of SEBS/PW composites oriented along the stretching direction under the tensile stress resisted the elastic potential energy of SEBS to achieve room-temperature shape fixation. Furthermore, HCNTs as a three-dimensional and photo-thermal conversion filler were incorporated into SEBS/PW to impart the composites with rapid light-actuated shape memory and light-thermal conversion/storage capacities. Finally, a BTMS with high phase change efficiency (95.3%), reversible plasticity shape memory (RPSM), photo-thermal conversion and wide-temperature thermal management range from −60 to 50 °C was manufactured by combining the heating and cooling subsystems, which exhibited vast prospects in battery thermal management fields.