Citation: Jie Fu, Linghan Bai, Liqiu Chu, Hanyu Zou, Long Qin, Shuxin Jia, Meile Ni, Zhifan Hao, Mengxiao Sun, Fan Wu. Biomimetic “fibrous root systems” in phase-change composites for photothermal conversion and energy storage[J]. Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica, ;2026, 42(10): 100333. doi: 10.1016/j.actphy.2026.100333 shu

Biomimetic “fibrous root systems” in phase-change composites for photothermal conversion and energy storage

Jie Fu ¹ ,
Linghan Bai ^3,, ,
Liqiu Chu ¹ ,
Hanyu Zou ² ,
Long Qin ² ,
Shuxin Jia ⁵ ,
Meile Ni ⁶ ,
Zhifan Hao ^7,, ,
Mengxiao Sun ^4,, ,
Fan Wu ^2,,

1.
Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Beijing 100013, China;
2.
Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China;
3.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China;
4.
School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China;
5.
School of Life Sciences, Qilu Normal University, Jinan 250000, Shandong Province, China;
6.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, Shaanxi Province, China;
7.
Research Department of Resources and Chemicals, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Corresponding author: Linghan Bai, Zhifan Hao, Mengxiao Sun, Fan Wu,
Received Date: 25 March 2026
Revised Date: 22 May 2026
Accepted Date: 27 May 2026

Phase change materials (PCMs) with efficient photothermal conversion and energy storage capabilities show great potential in the capture, conversion, and storage of solar energy. However, although pristine PCMs possess high latent heat, they suffer from issues such as low efficiency in light capture and absorption, poor thermal conductivity, phase leakage, and poor shape stability. Therefore, by integrating PCMs with photothermal conversion materials and inspired by the “root hair” structure of plants, we designed a novel biomimetic phase change material. This material employs a dual-carbon structure composed of carbonized PBO fiber (CPF) and in-situ generated nickel nanoparticles (NPs) confined within carbon nanotubes (CNTs), denoted as CPF@Ni/CNTs, as a three-dimensional porous carbon skeleton support. Using nickel nanoparticles as functional fillers and paraffin wax (PW) as the phase change material, the PW-CPF@Ni/CNTs composite PCM was successfully fabricated. Benefiting from the physical adsorption of the 3D network porous structure, a high PW loading ratio of 254% was achieved, and leakage was effectively suppressed during phase change (leakage rate ≤ 0.17% after 300 thermal cycles). The introduction of nickel nanoparticles not only constructed abundant thermal conduction pathways, but also, through the synergistic effect of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the graphitized carbon structure with high broadband light absorption, significantly enhanced the light capture and energy conversion efficiency of the composite PCM. Consequently, the PW-CPF@Ni/CNTs composite PCM exhibited a latent heat of 183.6 J g^-1, a thermal conductivity of 0.77 W (m K)^-1 (2.6 times higher than pure PW), and a photothermal conversion efficiency of 96.69% (100 mW cm^-2). Furthermore, the composite PCM maintained excellent thermal reliability after 300 photothermal cycles. This study proposes a novel biomimetic root-hair-like nickel-induced dual-carbon 3D network porous structure for the controlled fabrication of multifunctional, high-performance composite PCMs and provides a detailed analysis of their photothermal conversion mechanism. This new composite PCM holds significant application potential in solar energy storage, solar water heating, and thermal management of electronic devices.
- Phase change materials,
- Photothermal conversion,
- Thermal energy storage,
- Fibrous network,
- Carbon nanotube
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