Lignin-Enabled Cell Wall Engineering of Wood for Integrated Photothermal Conversion and Phase Change Energy Storage

Summary

No reviewed summary yet. Read the abstract below or open the original publication.

Abstract

Wood-based phase-change composites are promising for solar-thermal energy storage and thermal regulation. However, native wood limits phase-change material (PCM) uptake, whereas extensive delignification removes lignin's intrinsic light-harvesting capacity. We developed a cell-wall nano-engineering approach using aqueous p-toluenesulfonic acid to partially remove hemicellulose and redistribute retained lignin. This treatment increased cell-wall accessibility while preserving the wood's photothermal function. After impregnation with poly(ethylene glycol) impregnation, the resulting composite achieved a melting enthalpy of 154.9 J g-1 and an encapsulation efficiency of 78.5%. It showed no visible leakage at 80 °C and maintained stable thermal-storage performance over 100 heating-cooling cycles (differential scanning calorimetry). Lignin redistribution and reassembly within the cell wall also improved water repellency and moisture resistance. Compared with native- and delignified-wood controls, the composite showed stronger broadband absorption and an apparent photothermal conversion efficiency of 83.2% under two-sun irradiation. This lignin-retaining strategy integrates physical PCM confinement, thermal storage, and intrinsic photothermal conversion without requiring additional light absorbers.

Abstract as supplied by the source. Full text may be restricted by the publisher.