Triggering Mechanisms and Crystallisation Kinetics in Binary Supercooled Sugar-Alcohol Phase Change Materials

Hasila Jarimi; Ze Liu; Yuehong Su

doi:10.65582/gti.2026.009

Authors

Hasila Jarimi Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom; Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0921-3283
Ze Liu Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
Yuehong Su Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6616-7626

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65582/gti.2026.009

Keywords:

Binary Sugar Alcohol, Thermal Energy Storage, Avrami-type relations, Triggering Mechanisms

Abstract

The transition to low-carbon heating in the UK requires large-scale electrification of space and water heating, supported by compact and flexible thermal storage to balance variable renewable electricity supply and heat demand. This work investigates a binary sugar-alcohol–based supercooled phase change material (PCM) as a controllable thermal battery for low-temperature heating systems. The PCM is designed to melt in the 50–90 °C range, providing useful discharge temperatures for radiators and domestic hot water while exploiting long-duration supercooling for deferred heat release. The study was conducted in three stages. First, material screening was performed using T-history analysis to identify suitable binary sugar-alcohol mixtures with high latent heat, stable supercooling, and peak crystallisation temperatures in the target range. A non-eutectic mixture of xylitol–erythritol (Xy–Er) was selected, delivering a cumulative enthalpy of ~287.78 kJ kg⁻¹ under triggered conditions while remaining stably supercooled after cooling to ambient. Second, four triggering strategies were systematically evaluated, namely seeding, localised cooling using a thermoelectric (TEC) heat sink, electrode-based activation, and mechanical agitation, including the effect of prior cold crystallisation (reheating to 60 °C). Third, in situ crystallisation image-processing analysis was combined with an Avrami-type (JMAK) model with fixed exponent n=0.5 to quantify effective crystallisation kinetics. The results show that mechanical agitation and electrode triggering at 60 °C outperform seeding and TEC-based cooling, with mechanical agitation yielding the highest effective rate parameters. Meanwhile, TEC-based cooling in the present configuration was insufficient to produce significant crystallisation. These findings demonstrate that appropriately screened sugar-alcohol mixtures, combined with practical triggering methods, can enable controllable supercooled PCMs to be used as on-demand thermal batteries for future low-carbon heating systems.

References

Aladool, A., Aziz, M. M., & Wright, C. D., 2017. Understanding the importance of the temperature dependence of viscosity on the crystallization dynamics in the Ge2Sb2Te5 phase-change material. Journal of Applied Physics, 121(22). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4985282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4985282

Avrami, M., 1940. Kinetics of Phase Change. II Transformation‐Time Relations for Random Distribution of Nuclei. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 8(2), 212–224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1750631. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1750631

Avrami, M., 1941. Granulation, Phase Change, and Microstructure Kinetics of Phase Change. III. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 9(2), 177–184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1750872. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1750872

Beaupere, N., Soupremanien, U., & Zalewski, L., 2018. Nucleation triggering methods in supercooled phase change materials (PCM), a review. In Thermochimica Acta (Vol. 670, pp. 184–201). Elsevier B.V. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2018.10.009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2018.10.009

Callister Jr, W. D., & Rethwisch, D. G., 2020. Materials science and engineering: an introduction. John wiley & sons.

Chen, W., Chen, L., Li, L., Dong, C., & Zhang, L., 2023. Electrically-triggered nucleation of supercooled sodium acetate trihydrate phase change composites. Chemical Engineering Journal, 456. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.141131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.141131

Dong, C., Jia, S., Lu, F., Wu, S., & Chen, W., 2024. Experimental study on the electrically-triggered crystallization behavior of supercooled copper foam-based and expanded graphite-based sodium acetate trihydrate. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2024.112766. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2024.112766

Englmair, G., Jiang, Y., Dannemand, M., Moser, C., Schranzhofer, H., Furbo, S., & Fan, J., 2018. Crystallization by local cooling of supercooled sodium acetate trihydrate composites for long-term heat storage. Energy and Buildings, 180, 159–171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.09.035. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.09.035

Englmair, G., Moser, C., Furbo, S., Dannemand, M., & Fan, J., 2018. Design and functionality of a segmented heat-storage prototype utilizing stable supercooling of sodium acetate trihydrate in a solar heating system. Applied Energy, 221, 522–534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.124

Fan, C., Yuan, G., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., & Wang, Z., 2022. Thermal storage performance of eutectic sugar alcohols applied to buildings and enhancement of crystallization. Solar Energy, 234, 231–239. DOI: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.01.069. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.01.069

Hou, X., Gao, Y., Xing, Y., Xu, Z., Yin, J., & Wang, S., 2023. Bubble-injection and seeding enabled crystallization of erythritol/xylitol eutectic phase change material. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2023.103278. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2023.103278

Hozumi, T., Saito, A., Okawa, S., & Matsui, T. (n.d.). Freezing phenomena of supercooled water under impacts of ultrasonic waves. Retrieved www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrefrig.

Jarimi, H., Devrim, A., Su, Y., & Riffat, S., 2025. Controllable Supercooling in Phase Change Materials-Advances in Triggering Methods, Lab-Scale Investigations, and Prototype Demonstrations. Journal of Global Decarbonisation, 1(Volume 2025, Number 1), 1–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17184/eac.9501. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17184/eac.9501

Jarimi, H., Su, Y., & Riffat, S., 2026. Assessing the potential of binary and ternary supercooled sugar alcohol-based PCMs as a thermal battery. Applied Thermal Engineering, 292, 130268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.130268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.130268

Johnson, W. A., 1939. Reaction kinetics in process of nucleation and growth. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 135, 416–458.

Kalidasan, B., Pandey, A. K., Saidur, R., Tyagi, S. K., & Mishra, Y. K., 2023. Experimental evaluation of binary and ternary eutectic phase change material for sustainable thermal energy storage. Journal of Energy Storage, 68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107707. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107707

Karthika, S., Radhakrishnan, T. K., & Kalaichelvi, P., 2016. A Review of Classical and Nonclassical Nucleation Theories. Crystal Growth & Design, 16(11), 6663–6681. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6b00794. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6b00794

Kutlu, C., Su, Y., Lyu, Q., & Riffat, S., 2023. Thermal management of using crystallization-controllable supercooled PCM in space heating applications for different heating profiles in the UK. Renewable Energy, 206, 848–857. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.02.077. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.02.077

Lv, L., Huang, S., Cen, K., & Zhou, H., 2023. Experimental study of screening polyols and their binary eutectic phase change materials for long-term thermal energy storage. Journal of Cleaner Production, 399. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136636. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136636

Nomura, T., Zhu, C., Sagara, A., Okinaka, N., & Akiyama, T., 2015. Estimation of thermal endurance of multicomponent sugar alcohols as phase change materials. Applied Thermal Engineering, 75, 481–486. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.032. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.09.032

Palomo Del Barrio, E., Cadoret, R., Daranlot, J., & Achchaq, F., 2016. New sugar alcohols mixtures for long-term thermal energy storage applications at temperatures between 70 °C and 100 °C. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 155, 454–468. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.06.048. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.06.048

Paul, A., Shi, L., & Bielawski, C. W., 2015. A eutectic mixture of galactitol and mannitol as a phase change material for latent heat storage. Energy Conversion and Management, 103, 139–146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.06.013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.06.013

Puupponen, S., & Seppälä, A., 2018. Cold-crystallization of polyelectrolyte absorbed polyol for long-term thermal energy storage. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.02.013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.02.013

Sandnes, B., & Rekstad, J., 2006. Supercooling salt hydrates: Stored enthalpy as a function of temperature. Solar Energy, 80(5), 616–625. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2004.11.014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2004.11.014

Shao, X., 2018. Screening of sugar alcohols and their binary eutectic mixtures as phase change materials for low-to-medium temperature latent heat storage. (I): Non-isothermal melting and crystallization behaviors. Energy, 160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.07.081. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.07.081

Shao, X., Chenxu, Y., Wang, B., Zhang, N., & Yuan, Y., 2023. Mechanical agitation triggered crystallization of eutectic phase change material xylitol/erythritol with persistent supercooling for controllable heat retrieval. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2023.112335. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2023.112335

Shao, X., Yang, S., Fan, L., & Yuan, Y., 2023. Sugar alcohol phase change materials for low-to-medium temperature thermal energy storage: a comprehensive review. J. Energy Storage, 68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107848. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.107848

Shirzad, K., & Viney, C., 2023. A critical review on applications of the Avrami equation beyond materials science. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 20(203), 20230242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0242

Sosso, G. C., Chen, J., Cox, S. J., Fitzner, M., Pedevilla, P., Zen, A., & Michaelides, A., 2016. Crystal Nucleation in Liquids: Open Questions and Future Challenges in Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Chemical Reviews, 116(12), 7078–7116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00744. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00744

Turunen, K., Mikkola, V., Laukkanen, T., & Seppälä, A., 2023. Long-term thermal energy storage prototype of cold-crystallizing erythritol-polyelectrolyte. Applied Energy, 332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120530. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120530

Turunen, K., Yazdani, M. R., Santasalo-Aarnio, A., & Seppälä, A., 2021. Exceptional cold-crystallization kinetics of erythritol-polyelectrolyte enables long-term thermal energy storage. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111273. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111273

Xi, S., Wang, L., Xie, H., & Yu, W., 2022. Superhydrophilic Modified Elastomeric RGO Aerogel Based Hydrated Salt Phase Change Materials for Effective Solar Thermal Conversion and Storage. ACS Nano, 16(3), 3843–3851. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c08581. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c08581

Xu, X., Dong, Z., Memon, S. A., Bao, X., & Cui, H., 2017. Preparation and supercooling modification of salt hydrate phase change materials based on CaCl2·2H2O/CaCl2. Materials, 10(7). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070691. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070691

Yang, S., Shao, X. F., Shi, H. Y., Luo, J. H., & Fan, L. W., 2022. Bubble-injection-enabled significant reduction of supercooling and controllable triggering of crystallization of erythritol for medium-temperature thermal energy storage. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111538. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111538

Yuan, M., Xu, C., Wang, T., Zhang, T., Pan, X., & Ye, F., 2021. Supercooling suppression and crystallization behaviour of erythritol/expanded graphite as form-stable phase change material. Chemical Engineering Journal, 413. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127394. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127394

Zhou, G., Zhu, M., & Xiang, Y., 2018. Effect of percussion vibration on solidification of supercooled salt hydrate PCM in thermal storage unit. Renewable Energy, 126, 537–544. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.03.077. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.03.077