Thermal Energy Storage Capacity Research Articles

Energy and exergy analysis of a multipass macro-encapsulated phase change material/expanded graphite composite thermal energy storage for domestic hot water applications

This study presents the development and performance evaluation of an innovative thermal energy storage (TES) system utilizing a commercially available bioderived organic phase change material (PCM) for domestic hot water production. The primary objective of this research is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of thermal energy storage solutions by macro-encapsulating the PCM-expanded graphite (EG) compressed modules in a multi-pass tube arrangement. A comprehensive experimental setup was employed to investigate the thermal performance of the proposed TES unit, focusing on charging and discharging cycles. Key findings reveal that conduction is the dominant mode of heat transfer, with the system achieving a significant maximum average charging power of 1440 W and a discharging power of 1990 W. The thermal energy storage capacity reached an impressive 12.6 MJ, enabling the discharge of 90 % of stored energy within 90 min. Furthermore, the exergy analysis indicated high exergy efficiencies, with charging efficiencies reaching 98 % and overall exergy efficiency at 18 %.The implications of this research are significant, demonstrating the feasibility of using bioderived organic PCM for sustainable energy applications. It highlights the potential of the modular structure of the system to integrate with heat pump and solar energy systems, thereby enhancing efficiency and sustainability in domestic hot water applications. This work significantly contributes to the advancement of sustainable thermal energy storage technologies and establishes a solid foundation for future studies aimed at optimizing TES systems for domestic hot water production.

Experimental study on natural convection heat transfer performance of microencapsulated phase change material slurry in a square cavity

Microencapsulated phase change slurry (MicroEPCMS), consisting of microencapsulated phase change material (MicroEPCM) and base liquid, represents a novel latent heat functional fluid that can absorb a large amount of heat within its phase change temperature range. It has found widespread use as a functional liquid cooling medium for heat dissipation in batteries, electronic devices, and other devices. In this work, MicroEPCMS with different MicroEPCM concentration were prepared. The physical properties of MicroEPCMS including density, thermal conductivity, and dynamic viscosity were tested within different temperature ranges. The results showed that the MicroEPCMS exhibits a superior thermal energy storage capacity compared to water. In the phase change range of MicroEPCM, the MicroEPCMS has a higher thermal conductivity compared to water. In addition, the natural convection heat transfer characteristics of MicroEPCMS in a square cavity were investigated under varying heating power. The results indicated that MicroEPCMS can enhance natural convection heat transfer by absorbing heat with a minimal temperature rise during the phase change process compared to water. Moreover, higher heating power enables natural convection enhancement of MicroEPCMS in a square cavity. These results underscore the significant potential of MicroEPCMS as a functional liquid cooling medium for applications in thermal energy storage and thermal management.

Molecular simulations of increased thermal energy storage in metal–organic heat carriers with R1234ze(E)/R32 mixtures combined with IRMOF-1

Metal-organic heat carrier (MOHC) nanofluids offer a promising solution to enhance the efficiency of Organic Rankine Cycle systems. In this study, we developed a computational model to assess the thermal energy storage capacity of MOHC nanofluids using a base fluid mixture of R1234ze(E) and R32 refrigerants. Through Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations, we examined the adsorption characteristics, desorption heat, and thermodynamic properties of MOHCs. Our findings reveal that R32 molecules are preferentially adsorbed in IRMOF-1 compared to R1234ze(E), with adsorption selectivity of R32 over R1234ze(E) increasing under higher adsorption pressures. When the temperature during the endothermic process surpasses the phase transition point of the base fluid, the latent heat of phase transition can be fully exploited to enhance energy storage. Moreover, the inclusion of IRMOF-1 nanoparticles significantly improves the energy storage properties of both R32 and R1234ze(E), as well as their mixtures. The energy storage enhancement provided by IRMOF-1 is particularly pronounced under high working pressures and low temperature differences. These insights offer valuable guidance for selecting appropriate base fluids in MOHC systems, thereby optimizing the utilization of low-grade energy sources.

Flexible Highly Thermally Conductive PCM Film Prepared by Centrifugal Electrospinning for Wearable Thermal Management

Personal thermal management materials integrated with phase-change materials have significant potential to satisfy human thermal comfort needs and save energy through the efficient storage and utilization of thermal energy. However, conventional organic phase-change materials in a solid state suffer from rigidity, low thermal conductivity, and leakage, making their application challenging. In this work, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was chosen as the phase-change material to provide the energy storage density, polyethylene oxide (PEO) was chosen to provide the backbone structure of the three-dimensional polymer network and cross-linked with the PEG to provide flexibility, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used to improve the mechanical and thermal conductivity of the material. The thermal conductivity of the composite fiber membranes was boosted by 77.1% when CNTs were added at 4 wt%. Water-resistant modification of the composite fiber membranes was successfully performed using glutaraldehyde-saturated steam. The resulting composite fiber membranes had a reasonable range of phase transition temperatures, and the CC4PCF-55 membranes had melting and freezing latent heats of 66.71 J/g and 64.74 J/g, respectively. The results of this study prove that the green CC4PCF-55 composite fiber membranes have excellent flexibility, with good thermal energy storage capacity and thermal conductivity and, therefore, high potential in the field of flexible wearable thermal management textiles.

Experimental analysis of a radiant floor system incorporating phase change materials: Thermal performance and energy efficiency

The incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in radiant floors has the potential to improve the thermal and energy performance of the system. PCMs can act as thermal batteries, providing additional thermal energy storage capacity to Radiant Floor Systems (RFS). However, in the case of wet construction, when PCMs are incorporated into the enveloping mortar surrounding the RFS water pipes, the resulting specific heat and thermal conductivity can pose a challenge to system performance. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact that the incorporation of microencapsulated PCM (mPCM) in the RFS mortar has on the thermal and energy performance of the system. To tackle this objective, an experimental setup was constructed consisting of two RFS specimens: one reference and the other with mPCM within an innovative mortar. The two specimens were then tested under different heating strategies controlled by: i) timer, and ii) floor surface temperature setpoint. The thermal performance of the PCM-RFS and operating time were compared with the reference RFS. Timer-controlled intermittent heating has proven beneficial when the heating strategy is established to combine renewable solar energy and off-peak electricity tariffs. Thermal fluctuation was reduced and the PCM phase change process was mobilized twice in 24 h, maintaining surface floor temperatures of the PCM-RFS within comfort levels throughout the test period. When the heat source is controlled by floor surface temperature setpoint, the thermophysical properties of the PCM-RFS led to longer operating times, however mitigating high intermittency of the heat source activations, resulting in more regular operation mode, easier control and avoiding peak heating loads.

Multifunctional 1–octadecanol/expanded graphite/Fe3O4 composite phase change materials with effective solar–to–thermal and magnetic–to–thermal conversion and storage

Composite phase change materials (CPCMs) with multifunctional thermal conversion and storage abilities have demonstrated exceptional properties for diverse energy storage applications recently; however, these composite materials often encounter limitations of low heat storage capacity and high cost. In this study, novel 1–octadecanol (OD)/expanded graphite (EG)/Fe3O4 CPCMs were facilely prepared and characterized for multifunctional thermal conversion and storage properties. The composites showed excellent thermal energy storage capacities, reaching 185.5 J/g at 80 % OD accompanied by high crystallization fractions of above 95 %. In addition, they exhibited great thermal conductivities, excellent leakage resistance, thermal stability, and reliability. Under simulated solar irradiation, the prepared OD/EG/Fe3O4 CPCMs exhibited a rapid temperature increase from 34 to 70 °C, achieving solar–to–thermal conversion efficiency of 80.2–90.5 %. This behavior can be attributed to its ability to capture and convert photons into thermal energy, facilitated by the synergistic effects of the conjugated double–bond system of EG and localized surface plasmon resonance of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Furthermore, the prepared OD/EG/Fe3O4 CPCMs exhibited superparamagnetic properties, accelerating their temperatures from 32 °C to 88 °C within 11–23 s when subjected to an alternating magnetic field. This demonstrates magnetic–to–thermal conversion and storage ability. These findings highlight the potential of OD/EG/Fe3O4 CPCMs as promising and cost–effective materials for various practical thermal storage applications.

Shape-stable composite of synthetic phase change materials from balsa wood by epoxy/PEG through alkaline method

Phase change materials have excellent thermal energy storage capacity, making them an appealing option for energy management applications. Stabilizing the form of phase change materials enhances their practical effectiveness. This research focuses on sustaining the shape of low molecular weight PEG phase change materials in wood structures made from natural balsa wood. The alkalization process is used to modify the wood, after which the PEG/epoxy polymers are infused into the wood structure to form a synthetic phase change material. The process of treating wood with alkali involves partially removing lignin from the wood, creating specific spaces. Results from optical transmittance analysis demonstrate that wood treated with alkali and wood infused with phase change polymer exhibit high optical transmittance. SEM images also illustrate the presence of spaces in delignified wood treated with Epoxy/PEG 400 and Epoxy/PEG 600. The synthetic phase change material remains stable at temperatures below 310°C and possesses a ∆Hc of 170.1J/g to 162.8 J/g. The phase transition temperatures during heating are 56.4°C and 57.2°C, cooling is 25.7°C and 30.1°C.

A novel application of waste poplar sawdust biochar: preparation of a shape-stable composite phase-change material with excellent thermal energy-storage performance

ABSTRACT The practical application of phase-change materials (PCMs) is limited due to leakage and low thermal conductivity. In this study, waste poplar sawdust (PW) and its derived biochar (PWC) were used as encapsulation materials, with stearic acid (SA) as the phase-change material, to successfully prepare composite phase-change materials with no leakage and high thermal conductivity. The microstructure and pore structure of PW and PWC were studied through SEM and nitrogen adsorption–desorption curves. The analysis results of FTIR, XRD and TGA indicated SA/PW and SA/PWC had excellent chemical compatibility and thermal stability. Excitingly, compared to SA/PW, SA/PWC exhibited higher latent heat and thermal conductivity. DSC results showed that the phase-change latent heat of SA/PWC can reach 100 J/g, which was 21% higher than that of SA/PW and the thermal conductivity increased by 87% times compared to SA/PW . In addition, SA/PW and SA/PWC still exhibited good thermal energy storage capacity after 200 thermal cycles. This research not only effectively resolved the leakage and low thermal conductivity challenges associated with PCMs but also introduced a novel utilization strategy for waste poplar sawdust, thereby significantly expanding its application potential.

Enhancing the performance of an aerosols-affected solar power tower in arid regions: A case study of wind turbines hybridization

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the two most important threats to the solar power towers' (SPT) performance, i.e. aerosols' density and water scarcity, on the SPT feasibility in arid regions. The study is the first attempt to include the site adapted aerosols effect on the SPT’s reflected irradiance and comprehensively investigate several new configurations aiming at optimizing the performance and associated costs. Results show that the inclusion of this effect causes an Annual Energy Generation (AEG) reduction of up to 9.1 %. Further, the water consumption analysis is realized based on four different power cycle cooling options, i.e. wet, dry and two hybrid scenarios. Then, a hybridization with Wind Turbines (WT) is proposed as a potential solution to improve the performance of the SPT. The SPT-WT hybridization has been realized with the assistance of an in-house developed algorithm where key design parameters such as solar multiple, thermal energy storage, SPT and WT capacities have been varied over different ranges. It has been found that the configurations with bigger WT share show clear improvements in the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), water consumption and AEG and that’s only when the TES is excluded. However, this comes with a penalty on the capacity factor (CF) which witnesses considerable decreases. The results of this study provide new important information that can be used in conceptual engineering studies and inform policy making.

Heat release efficiency Betterment inside a novel-designed latent heat exchanger featuring arc-shaped fins and a rotational mechanism via numerical model and artificial neural network

Thermal energy storage (TES) units featuring phase change materials (PCMs) have a crucial impact on efficient energy management. Since energy demands keep changing, and the world increasingly relies on sustainable energy sources, innovation is continuously required. New technologies, materials, and methods for energy storage must be developed to meet these shifting needs effectively. In this study, a triplex-tube heat exchanger (TTHE) was employed as a TES medium, utilizing PCM within the middle tube. Because of its high thermal energy storage capacity, RT50 was selected as the PCM. Four innovative arc-shaped fins were strategically integrated within the PCM space to accelerate heat release. The system was subjected to rotational speeds of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 rpm. The investigation was carried out in two stages: initially, the impact of varying rotational speeds on the discharging process of the PCM in a finless TTHE was explored; subsequently, the influence of the same speeds on the solidification behavior of the finned TTHE was analyzed. Natural convection and PCM’s solidification process were examined through the enthalpy-porosity method. The findings represented that in the absence of fins, the device’s rotation had a more noticeable impact on the solidification behavior; however, incorporating fins was much more influential. Up to 2850 s, all the finned systems had solidified entirely in the presence or absence of the rotational mechanism, while in the finless system with a rotational speed of 1.5, 30.52 % of the material was still unsolidified until this time. Finally, the influence of three key structural parameters of the fins: α (outer fins arc angle), β (inner fins arc angle), and S (space between fins) on the discharging time of the PCM was analyzed using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The study offered critical insights for optimizing fin configuration by systematically varying these parameters within defined ranges. An ANN predictive model was also proposed to assist TES system manufacturers and developers in future design and optimization efforts. The results demonstrated that the optimal setting of the TTHE (with the parameters of α = 60°, β = 60°, S = 10 mm) achieved the liquid fraction of 0.1, 80.33 % faster than the finless system.

Performance and Parametric Studies of a Non-Compact Hybrid PV-CSP Power Plant Integrated by a Supercritical Rankine Cycle and an Electric Heater in Series

This study focuses on performing a parametric analysis of the non-compact concentrated solar power (CSP)-photovoltaic (PV) hybrid plant combined with an electric heater (EH) and a Supercritical Rankine Cycle as well as a multi-objective optimization of different technologies. The power plant sizing is evaluated in a baseload dispatch scenario of 165 MWe for a location in Seville and considering combinations of the PV installed power, CSP solar multiple (SM), thermal energy storage (TES) capacity and EH power. Studied parametric combinations are optimized for minimizing the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and maximizing the capacity factor (CF), with the ultimate goal of achieving the Pareto front. The results of the study show that certain combinations, such as PV=450 MWe, SM=2, EH=250 MW, and TES=12 h, have a favourable balance between the LCOE and the CF (LCOE=0.0979 €/kWh, CF=0.702). In addition, the results obtained through the optimization process, in particular by considering the Pareto frontier, indicate that among the different technologies, the CSP-PV-TES-EH configuration has the lowest LCOE and the highest FC.

Operation optimization in large-scale heat pump systems: A scheduling framework integrating digital twin modelling, demand forecasting, and MILP

The integration of large-scale heat pumps and thermal energy storage can facilitate sector coupling, potentially lowering heating and cooling costs in industries and buildings. This cost reduction can be extended by optimizing the utilization of the available thermal energy storage capacity in accordance to fluctuating electricity prices. Although the literature offers methods for optimizing the operation of these integrated systems, they often overlook the impact of heat pump performance degradation over time, such as from fouling. This oversight can lead to suboptimal system performance and inaccurate operational cost estimates. The present study addresses this gap by introducing a novel operational scheduling framework that aimed to reduce the operational costs of a commercial large-scale heat pump system. The system comprised an open cooling tower, a thermal storage tank and two heat pumps affected by fouling. The framework incorporated a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model, thermal demand forecasting, and heat pump performance maps that account for varying fouling levels. These maps were obtained from online calibrated simulation models used as digital twins of the heat pumps. The results demonstrated that the proposed framework enhanced the thermal energy storage utilization in response to variable electricity prices and adjusted the heat pump operation based on the influence of fouling. This resulted in a reduction of operational costs of up to 5% compared to the conventional operation of the system. These savings were observed to vary depending on the forecasting accuracy and the prevailing fouling levels. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of using the proposed framework for cost reduction in large-scale heat pump systems.

Thermally enhanced flexible phase change materials for thermal energy conversion and management of wearable electronics

The developing trend of miniaturization and integration for electronics imposes challenges of efficient heat dissipation technology, where novel materials with advanced thermal energy conversion and management are urgently needed. In this work, we propose an emerging phase change material (PCM) system with polyvinyl alcohol/expanded graphite network loading paraffin wax (PE-PW), which exhibits superb flexibility, thermal energy storage capacity and thermal conductivity. The phase change enthalpy is from 115.61 J/g to 168.93 J/g without any leakage, which can be maintained even after 500 thermal cycles. The thermal conductivity can reach 1.46 W/mK, 484% enhanced compared with that of pure PCM. Meanwhile, the thermal management test indicates that the PE-PW composites can quickly absorb and store the generated heat to achieve temperature control, thus protecting the system from overheating and indicating excellent thermal management capacity. This flexible PE-PW system has broad application prospects in the field of thermal energy conversion and management for wearable electronics.

Municipal sludge-based low-carbon phase-change composite towards energy storage: Fabrication and investigation

The integration of municipal sludge with phase change materials for composite energy storage material fabrication benefits to sludge significant reduction and recycling, heavy metal fixation, and minimizing environmental pollution. This groundbreaking work proposed municipal sludge-derived phase-change composites utilizing potassium nitrate as phase change material to produce cost-effective, low-carbon thermal energy storage materials. Five samples with varying mass fractions of municipal sludge incineration ash and potassium nitrate were prepared through a cold-compression & hot-sintering process and then thermal properties, microscopic structure, mechanical strength, and chemical compatibility between components was investigated extensively to explore the feasibility of municipal sludge recycling for composite energy storage material fabrication. The results revealed successful encapsulation of heavy metals within the phase change composites, and the composite with a 50:50 ratio of ash to potassium nitrate exhibited superior overall performance, which boasts a thermal energy storage capacity of 330.34 J/g with temperature rising from 100 up to 380 °C, a peak thermal conductivity of 1.04 W/(m·K), remarkable mechanical strength of 153.78 MPa, and excellent thermal stability. In addition, the components of the municipal sludge incineration ash and potassium nitrate displayed exceptional chemical compatibility. This novel phase change composite holds significant potential for engineering application compared to traditional alternatives.

Synergistic enhancement of metal–organic framework-derived hierarchical porous materials towards photothermal conversion and storage properties of phase change materials

The design and synthesis of composite phase change materials that integrate photothermal conversion and latent heat storage have guiding significance for the efficient development and utilisation of solar energy. In this study, taking into consideration the advantages of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with adjustable structure and properties, HKUST-1-derived CuO/hierarchical porous carbon materials were employed and integrated with palmitic acid (PA) to synthesise composite phase change materials that exhibit exceptional comprehensive properties. The effects of different carbonation temperatures on HKUST-1-derived CuO/hierarchical porous carbon were analysed through a series of characterisations. The hierarchical porous structure in the blended system offers abundant pore structure and high specific surface area to prevent leakage of phase change materials. Composite phase change materials can maintain good shape stability and excellent thermal energy storage capacity. The thermal storage efficiency and photothermal conversion efficiency are 98.28% and 81.83%, respectively. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity of the composite phase change material is 3.65 times that of pure PA. In conclusion, the MOFs derivative-based composite phase change materials designed in this study exhibited potential for thermal energy storage and can be applied to the field of solar energy conversion and storage systems.

Advancing thermal control in buildings with innovative cementitious mortar and recycled expanded glass/n-octadecane phase change material composites

This study delves into the role of phase change materials (PCMs) in bolstering energy efficiency, particularly in response to escalating global energy consumption in construction. The research focuses on integrating recycled expanded glass (REG) as a support material for shape-stabilized PCMs, specifically emphasizing n-octadecane (nOD) in cement mortars. With nOD exhibiting a melting point around 27 °C and a high latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) capacity of 241 J/g, various analyses, including DSC, FT-IR, SEM, TGA, and thermoregulation tests, assess the impact of different nOD/REG concentrations on TES properties. Alterations in physico-mechanical properties of mortar mixtures are noted with increasing REG/nOD content, impacting porosity and water absorption. The incorporation of REG/nOD PCMs decreases thermal conductivity, from 0.3620 W/mK (no PCM) to 0.1494 W/mK (full replacement). Thermo-regulation tests highlight PCM’s ability to counteract temperature fluctuations, surpassing results from other studies. Temperature difference outcomes (−10.60 °C daytime cooling, 4.00 °C nighttime heating) establish REG/nOD as promising for sustainable construction. The research evaluates PCM-infused concrete’s impact on building energy efficiency, noting significant heat demand reductions across climates and wall thicknesses. Carbon emissions decrease notably, especially with coal as the fuel source. Customized material thickness in PCM-integrated walls shows potential for substantial energy savings. These findings contribute valuable insights to the viability of REG/nOD composites in mitigating heating and cooling loads, advancing sustainable building solutions.

Comprehensive assessment of PCM integrated roof for passive building design: A study in energo-economics

There has been a notable surge in energy demand within the building sector of developing nations, particularly in the context of space cooling and heating, which constitute significant portions of energy consumption. The thermal performance of a building’s roof slab plays a crucial role in determining these heating and cooling requirements. To address this, the utilization of Phase Change Material (PCM) to enhance the building’s thermal energy storage capacity has emerged as an innovative strategy for reducing energy demand. This study assesses the thermal behavior of a building envelope integrated with macroencapsulated PCM in a real subtropical environment. Experimental setups include both a conventional slab unit (Ref–SU) devoid of PCM and a PCM (OM37) integrated slab unit (Exp–SU). Analysis entails examining variations in temperature, heat flow, thermal loadings, and maximum heat gain reduction. Economic metrics, such as electricity savings, simple payback periods, and CO2 emissions savings, are also scrutinized. The investigation aims to elucidate the efficacy and underlying parameters governing the PCM’s performance in reducing thermal loads in the Indian city of Rupnagar. Findings indicate that the Exp–SU configuration reduces indoor temperatures by 4.0 °C during sunny hours, resulting in 33.33 % more electricity savings for space cooling compared to heating, with a simple payback period of 5.7 years. Additionally, the heat flux in Exp–SU is reduced by 60.6 % compared to Ref–SU and thermal load by up to 49.8 %. Furthermore, Exp–SU achieves a 44.24 % reduction in CO2 emissions for space cooling compared to heating with a maximum heat gain reduction of 40.3 %.

One-step preparation of macropore phase change materials enabled exceptional thermal insulation, thermal energy storage and long-term stability

Phase change materials (PCMs) capable of reversibly storing and releasing thermal energy have been widely used in our daily life to reduce energy consumption. However, traditional PCMs are mainly focused on the promotion of their enthalpy and thermal conductivity yet are rarely noticed on incorporating their thermal energy storage capacity with thermal insulation performance. Herein, a kind of macropore PCMs (MPCMs) was synthesized by directly adding expanded microspheres into polyethylene glycol-based PCMs, in which the microspheres can form an internal closed porous structure in matrix for realizing thermal insulation and polyethylene glycol is used as the phase change component for achieving thermal energy storage. Amazingly, the designed MPCMs have significant latent heat storage capacity reached up to130.2 J g−1 and simultaneously possess extremely low thermal conductivity of 0.08577 W m−1 K−1. The thermal power generation system test further revealed the thermal insulation capability of these MPCMs was eleven times more than that of the commercial wood. Especially, these MPCMs with relatively low density of 0.492 g cm−3 can still maintain the remarkable tensile strength of 11.74 MPa and can also exhibit good toughness via multiple cyclic shape memory analysis. The focus of this work that is to combine the thermal insulation ability of porous materials with the thermal energy storage ability of PCMs, can effectively reduce the heat conduction meanwhile can maintain the stability of internal temperature contributed to reducing energy consumption, applying in food transportation, building energy conservation and other fields.

Protic ionic liquids mono, di, triethanolamine laurate as green phase change materials: thermal energy storage capacity and conversion to electricity

Protic ionic liquids mono, di, triethanolamine laurate as green phase change materials: thermal energy storage capacity and conversion to electricity

Multifunction integration within magnetic CNT-bridged MXene/CoNi based phase change materials

Developing advanced nanocomposite phase change materials (PCMs) integrating zero-energy thermal management, microwave absorption, photothermal therapy and electrical signal detection can promote the leapfrog development of flexible wearable electronic devices. For this goal, we propose a multidimensional collaborative strategy combining two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets with metal-organic framework-derived one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and zero-dimensional (0D) metal nanoparticles. After encapsulating paraffin wax (PW) in three-dimensional (3D) networked multidimensional MXene/CoNi–C, the resulting composite PCMs exhibit excellent thermal energy storage capacity and long-term thermally reliable stability. Benefiting from the synergistically enhanced photothermal effects of CNTs, Co/Ni nanoparticles and MXene, PW@MXene/CoNi–C can capture photons efficiently and transfer phonons quickly, yielding an ultrahigh photothermal conversion and storage efficiency of 97.5%. Additionally, PW@MXene/CoNi–C composite PCMs exhibit high microwave absorption with a minimum reflection loss of −49.3 ​dB at 8.03 ​GHz in heat-related electronic application scenarios. More attractively, the corresponding flexible phase change film can simultaneously achieve thermal management and electromagnetic shielding of electronic devices, as well as photothermal therapy and electrical signal detection for individuals. This functional integration design provides an important reference for developing advanced flexible multifunctional wearable materials and devices.