(1. Key Laboratory of Efficient & Clean Energy Utilization, The Education Department of Hunan Province , School of Energy and Power Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114) (2. State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China Institute of Technology, Nanchang 330013)
Heat storage technology can improve energy efficiency and solve the contradiction between energy supply and demand in time and space, and the key to its practical application is heat storage materials. With some advantages of heat transfer and heat storage capabilities, molten salt is an ideal phase change heat storage material and has been widely used in thermal energy storage processes. The thermal conductivity of molten salt is 0.5～1.0 W/(m·K) generally, which can not meet the need of using as a phase change heat storage material. The combination of the metal material and the molten salt can greatly improve the thermal conductivity and heat storage performance of the molten salt. Molten salt/metal composite phase change material for thermal energy storage has become a hot point in the application of molten salt. This paper summarizes molten salt composites with nickel, aluminum, copper, magnesium and other metal with the form of particles, foam, fins and other structures. The preparation of molten salt/metal composite phase change materials, and their applications in industrial waste heat recovery and solar thermal power are summarized. Meanwhile, the corrosion behavior of molten salt in high temperature is also reviewed.