SmartMat (Dec 2024)

Delivery and utilization of photo‐energy for temperature control using a light‐driven microfluidic control device at −40 °C

  • Jing Ge,
  • Mengmeng Qin,
  • Xu Zhang,
  • Xiaoyu Yang,
  • Ping Yang,
  • Hui Wang,
  • Gejun Liu,
  • Xinlei Zhou,
  • Bo Zhang,
  • Zhiguo Qu,
  • Yiyu Feng,
  • Wei Feng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smm2.1300
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 6
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

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Abstract Low‐temperature energy harvest, delivery, and utilization pose significant challenges for thermal management in extreme environments owing to heat loss during transport and difficulty in temperature control. Herein, we propose a light‐driven photo‐energy delivery device with a series of photo‐responsive alkoxy‐grafted azobenzene‐based phase‐change materials (a‐g‐Azo PCMs). These a‐g‐Azo PCMs store and release crystallization and isomerization enthalpies, reaching a high energy density of 380.76 J/g even at a low temperature of −63.92 °C. On this basis, we fabricate a novel three‐branch light‐driven microfluidic control device for distributed energy recycling that achieves light absorption, energy storage, controlled movement, and selective release cyclically over a wide range of temperatures. The a‐g‐Azo PCMs move remote‐controllably in the microfluidic device at an average velocity of 0.11–0.53 cm/s owing to the asymmetric thermal expansion effect controlled by the temperature difference. During movement, the optically triggered heat release of a‐g‐Azo PCMs achieves a temperature difference of 6.6 °C even at a low temperature of −40 °C. These results provide a new technology for energy harvest, delivery, and utilization in low‐temperature environments via a remote manipulator.

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