Metal Foams, Nanofluids, and Phase change Material for Enhanced Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage: A Multiscale Review

Over the past decade, the development of advanced heating, cooling, and thermal energy storage systems has increasingly focused on innovative solutions such as nanofluids, metal foams and phase change materials (PCMs). Through the coordinated use of complementary experimental and modeling approaches. This project systematically assessed the degree of heat transfer and overall thermal performance enhancement achievable in heat exchangers and thermal energy storage systems by integrating nanofluids, metal foams, and PCMs. This article provides an overview of the main aspects of this comprehensive research activity. Particular attention is devoted to the comparison between mesoscopic and macroscopic heat transfer modeling in metal foams and nanofluids, as well as to the experimental datasets acquired and analyzed throughout the research program. Overall, this multiscale review indicates that the combined use of metal foams, nanofluids, and phase change materials can effectively enhance heat transfer characteristics and thermal energy storage performance, while also highlighting the remaining modeling and practical challenges associated with their implementation in engineering systems.