Abstract
[Display omitted] Grace Han was born in South Korea and graduated from POSTECH with a BS in Chemistry. She obtained her PhD in Chemistry at MIT in 2015 and joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT as a postdoctoral associate. Grace started her independent career as an assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry at Brandeis University in 2018. Her research interests span energy conversion and storage, molecular switch chemistry, phase transition of materials, and atomic-resolution molecular imaging.
[Display omitted] Mihael Gerkman received his BS in Chemistry from SUNY Potsdam in 2016. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD at Brandies University in the Han group. His research is focused on the synthesis of novel molecular switches and the study of their reversible isomerization dynamics in condensed phases for thermal energy storage applications.
In this future energy article, we introduce an optomechanical method that allows for controlling low-grade waste heat storage and release in organic phase change materials. Nanoscale molecular switches that change their structures in response to light can actively alter the phase of passive organic materials. The light-controlled solid-liquid phase transition enables the storage of a large amount of latent heat, and the stimuli-responsive energy materials exhibit tunable storage-release temperature, longer heat storage time, and triggered heat release.
