How are porous media used in energy storage?

Porous media consist of solid skeletal matrices interpenetrated by pore networks filled with fluids. These materials are essential for modern energy storage applications, including supercapacitors, batteries, fuel cells, and thermal energy systems. Their unique properties, such as porosity and permeability, allow for effective fluid flow and energy capture.

What we know

• Porous materials are essential for energy storage technologies like supercapacitors, photocatalysis, fuel cells, and batteries. [4]
• A porous medium contains voids or pores within a skeletal solid matrix, typically filled with a liquid or gas. [4]
• Permeability measures the ability of fluids to flow through porous media, influenced by pore shape, connectedness, and porosity. [3]
• Thermal energy storage systems can employ natural porous media such as masses of native earth, bedrock accessed via boreholes, or deep aquifers. [2]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat is thermal energy storage?
• how it workedHow does fluid flow through porous rock?
• a case in pointWhat are the main types of grid energy storage?
• what followedHow do supercapacitors store energy?
• whoWho first described fluid flow through sand filters?
• an unexpected connectionHow do bones relate to industrial energy storage?Biological tissues like bones share the fundamental classification of porous media with engineered battery components.

Sources

• [1]thermal energy storage (Wikidata Q2142963) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Thermal energy storage · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Permeability (porous media) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Porous medium · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Grid energy storage · CC BY-SA 4.0

Your path

1. What was the role of a Roman provincial governor?
2. /How are porous media used in energy storage?