Enhanced thermal energy storage performance of molten salt for the next generation concentrated solar power plants by SiO₂ nanoparticles: A molecular dynamics study

Chloride molten salt is the most promising thermal energy storage materials for the next generation concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. In this work, to enhance the thermal performance of KNaCl₂ molten salts, composited thermal energy storage (CTES) materials based on amorphous SiO₂ nanoparticles and KNaCl₂ were proposed and designed under the guidance of the material composition design strategy. The molecular dynamics simulation method has been conducted to investigate the thermal storage properties and analyze the mechanism of heat transfer improvement from the perspective of microstructure evolution, thermal diffusion properties and energy changes. Thermal conductivity, viscosity, and specific heat capacity of CTES materials at high temperatures with different volume fractions of nanoparticles were predicted to provide reference data for the design of heat transfer systems in CSP plants. The study discovered that increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of the systems significantly, with the maximum increase of 25.28% and 7.87%, respectively. Moreover, the enhancement of heat transfer characteristics is the result of the formation of a compressed interface layer with a thickness 5 Å on the outer surface of SiO2 nanoparticles. This work has important guiding significance for the material selection and composition design of molten salt-nanoparticle composite materials used for next-generation CSP plants.