Construction of double cross-linking PEG/h-BN@GO polymeric energy-storage composites with high structural stability and excellent thermal performances

To improve phase-change behavior and thermal conductivity of the PEG-based polymeric SSPCMs, a series of SSPCMs with double cross-linking networks were constructed by introducing GO and hydroxylated h-BN into the polymer molecular chains of PEG-based SSPCMs through grafted polymerization and self-assembly. GO was the main hard supporting skeleton for the PEG segment, and h-BN as 2D thermal enhanced cells continuously was linked on the GO nano-sheets, forming into double cross-linking networks with PEG segments, which has good structural stability and regularity. Thus, the SSPCMs possessed good phase-change properties, excellent thermal reliability, and high thermal conductivity. Microscopies confirmed the successfully constructed chemical structure of the SSPCMs. Energy-storage capacities of the SSPCMs could reach 149.62 J/g, which displayed no obvious change after 100 thermal cycles, suggesting a good thermal cycling stability. Moreover, thermal conductivity of the prepared SSPCMs was enhanced by 71% compared with pure PEG, showing a good heat transfer efficiency. Therefore, this study represents a creative strategy towards the development of SSPCMs for thermal energy storage and thermal management applications.