Water based adsorption thermal battery: Sorption mechanisms and applications

Adsorption thermal storage, which can store heat like a battery, reserve it when it is unneeded and release thermal energy on users’ demands, has been acknowledged as a promising strategy for heat reallocation, especially water based adsorption thermal battery (ATB). This review aims to summarize the recent advances in this domain and provide perspectives for the further development of ATB, focusing on the design of adsorbent materials and the optimization of system configurations in the light of different application scenarios. Here, we start with introducing the fundamental mechanisms concerning thermodynamics and adsorption kinetics. Next, we elaborate properties and performances of various adsorbents and system configurations developed for ATB, with their advantages and limitations as well as design strategies discussed. Importantly, we introduce the application-oriented selection principles of diversified materials and system cycles, which could provide practical guidelines for overall design in various application scenarios. In the last section, we outline the challenges in this field from fundamental research and practical application aspects, and provide a future outlook for the development of ATB technology.