Silica and alumina nano-enhanced molten salts for thermal energy storage: A comparison

The study of more efficient materials for thermal energy storage at high temperatures is a broad field of research. The use of the nanotechnology is a strategy recently considered to enhance the thermal properties of these materials. The nano-enhanced Molten Salts (neMS) are constituted by an inorganic salt where tiny quantities of nanoparticles (NPs) are dispersed. These nanomaterials possess a specific heat higher than that of the salt or the isolated NPs. This phenomenon is not still well understood and great research efforts are needed to describe the interactions on the material at a molecular level. The existence of a nanolayer at the interface between the NPs surface and the molten salt with superior thermal properties is the main mechanism proposed up to now. A high available surface of the NPs promotes the formation of higher quantities of these nanostructures. The available surface depends on the NPs size and shape and is strongly reduced if NPs are agglomerated. We have studied and compared the effect on the specific heat of embedding two different ceramic NPs on molten Solar Salt.