Stabilized multifunctional phase change materials based on carbonized Cu‐coated melamine foam/reduced graphene oxide framework for multiple energy conversion and storage

Abstract The leakage of organic phase change materials (OPCMs) at temperatures above their melting point severely limits their large‐scale application. The introduction of porous supports has been identified as an efficient leakage‐proofing method. In this study, a novel carbonized Cu‐coated melamine foam (MF)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) framework (MF/rGO/Cu‐C) is constructed as a support for fabricating stabilized multifunctional OPCMs. MF serves as the supporting material, while rGO and Cu act as functional reinforcements. As a thermal energy storage material, polyethylene glycol (PEG) is encapsulated into MF/rGO/Cu‐C through a vacuum‐assisted impregnation method to obtain PEG@MF/rGO/Cu‐C composite with excellent comprehensive performance. PEG@MF/rGO/Cu‐C exhibits high phase change enthalpies of 148.3 J g⁻¹ (melting) and 143.9 J g⁻¹ (crystallization), corresponding to a high energy storage capability of 92.7%. Simultaneously, MF/rGO/Cu‐C endues the composite with an enhanced thermal conductivity of 0.4621 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, which increases by 463% compared to that of PEG@MF. Furthermore, PEG@MF/rGO/Cu‐C displays great light‐to‐thermal and electric‐to‐thermal conversion capabilities, thermal cycle stability, light‐to‐thermal cycle stability, and shape stability, showing promising application prospects in different aspects.