Lyophobic nanoporous accumulator

The development of new nanoporous materials with large specific surface areas has opened up new energy storage possibilities. The adsorption of gases within nanoporous materials opens up new prospects both for the storage of chemical energy, through the reversible fixation of a species such as hydrogen, and for the storage of thermal energy associated with the heat of exothermic adsorption and endothermic desorption. In this context, lyophobic nanoporous systems take advantage of nanoporous materials for mechanical energy storage. Energy is stored by forced intrusion of a non-wetting liquid into a nanoporous material and released by spontaneous expulsion of the pressurized liquid from the pores. This original approach enables hydraulic energy to be converted directly and reversibly into interfacial energy. The pressure is fixed by the liquid/nanoporous couple employed, and is largely independent of both the rate of matrix filling with liquid and the duration of intrusion or extrusion. These systems thus enable rapid energy transfer with a power density more than an order of magnitude greater than that of current storage solutions.

After clarifying the operating principle of lyophobic nanoporous systems, the characteristics of the nanoporous materials used to produce them will be detailed. The article then presents the potential of these new systems for energy storage and conversion, placing them in the context of the energy storage solutions available today. The physical mechanisms at work within nanopores, which are responsible for the specific behavior of lyophobic nanoporous systems, are then discussed. The article concludes with an overview of the challenges ahead for the development of these systems.