Molecular dynamics simulations of phase change materials for thermal energy storage: a review.

Phase change materials (PCM) have had a significant role as thermal energy transfer fluids and nanofluids and as media for thermal energy storage. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, can play a significant role in addressing several thermo-physical problems of PCMs at the atomic scale by providing profound insights and new information. In this paper, the reviewed research is classified into five groups: pure PCM, mixed PCM, PCM containing nanofillers, nano encapsulated PCM, and PCM in nanoporous media.

Investigating the effects of adding hybrid nanoparticles, graphene and boron nitride nanosheets, to octadecane on its thermal properties.

Octadecane is an alkane that is used to store thermal energy at ambient temperature as a phase change material. A molecular dynamics study was conducted to investigate the effects of adding graphene and a boron nitride nanosheet on the thermal and structural properties of octadecane paraffin. The PCFF force field for paraffin, AIREBO potential for graphene, Tersoff potential for the boron nitride nanosheet, and Lennard-Jones potential for the van der Waals interaction between the nanoparticles and -alkanes were used.