No energy transition without heat storage, no heat storage without materials, no storage materials without fundamental physical understanding

Henk Huinink is full professor in Physics of Energy Storage at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) with . His key research interests include phase transitions in crystals, interactions between solids and water, heat and mass transport in porous media and NMR imaging and relaxometry. Henk investigates materials for making thermal batteries, with the goals of increasing power output and multicyclic stable performance. Thermal batteries are charged with heat instead of electricity.

Henk studies the physical working principles of heat storage materials in order to improve them and make them suitable for long term compact storage. He is focusing on so-called thermochemical materials (TCM’s) in general and salt hydrates in particular. As water is built into the crystal structure heat is released (hydration). By heating the materials, the water will desorb (dehydration). This reversible reaction can be used for charging and discharging.

Henk’s research has identified the most promising crystal hydrates for compact heat storage based on the thermochemical principle. He has also elucidated the coupling between the reaction kinetics of hydration/dehydration reactions in salt hydrates and nucleation-growth mechanisms. He will be focusing on the following topics in the coming period:

• Stabilization of salt hydrates by studying salt/organic composites.
• Boost the power output by increasing the thermal conductivity of the TCM’s.
• Improve power output by promoting nucleation in TCM’s.