BIO-BASED INNOVATION
Wallboards with fungi, PCM could be game changer
BIOBUILD, a Horizon Europe-funded project, is developing fully bio-based wallboard solutions aimed at reducing building energy consumption and environmental impact. The project combines renewable wood-based materials with bio-based phase change materials (PCMs) to enhance thermal performance while remaining compatible with industrial-scale manufacturing.
Within BIOBUILD’s broader research activities, researchers are exploring innovative bio-based approaches, including the use of mycelium, the vegetative body of fungi, as part of experimental material development pathways. These investigations assess whether biological processes could contribute to future building materials alongside more conventional bio-based solutions.
PCM Products Ltd. is a key partner in the BIOBUILD project. “PCM Products Limited’s role extended beyond defining the standard thermal characteristics of the PCM material,” said Zafer Ure, managing director of PCM products. “Our focus was to develop a solution that is commercially viable, scalable, and aligned with market expectations in terms of cost versus performance. The solution we developed successfully satisfies both the technical requirements and the commercial objectives of the BIOBUILD project.”
“We evaluated a range of commercially available bio-based thermal energy storage materials that could meet the project requirements not only from a technical perspective, but also within the commercial realities of the cost-driven building sector,” Ure added. “One of the key challenges was identifying a material that met the required cost targets, while also ensuring the availability of multiple suppliers capable of manufacturing the product at a reasonable cost and in the large volumes required for building applications.”
PCM Products selected a bio-based PCM based on ethyl palmitate, which helps maintain indoor temperatures around 22–23°C, within commonly accepted indoor comfort ranges defined by international thermal comfort standards.
“Beyond the physical and thermal properties of the bio-based PCM, it was essential to identify manufacturers with the capability to produce the material at scale, at a competitive price, and across multiple global locations,” Ure said. “This approach ensures supply chain resilience and avoids reliance on a single-source supplier for any developed technology.”
Laboratory testing also explored the interaction between mycelium growth and different wood substrates. Results showed that hardwood fibers provided more robust and uniform growth than softwood fibers. Treated hardwood particles supported healthy growth of mycelium impregnated with PCM, with testing indicating that the amount of impregnated material is critical. In laboratory samples measuring 17×17 cm, up to 50% of the total dry weight could be incorporated. Larger 50×50 cm panels are currently under testing.
The testing of thermal performance of mycelium–bio-based PCM wallboards is ongoing and has not yet been fully validated. However, researchers anticipate that such solutions could contribute to maintaining more stable indoor temperatures and reducing overall energy demand in buildings.
PILOT PROJECT
HYSTORE Project EU installed its phase-change thermal storage at its pilot site in Montserrat, Spain. It is one of four unique test cases designed to develop and validate thermal energy storage (TES) concepts that use smart platforms and combinations of: an all-in-one phase change material (PCM) solution, low-temperature PCM heating and cooling solution, PCM heating solution, and thermochemical material (TCM) heating and cooling solution.
Rubitherm Technologies GmbH (Berlin, Germany) produced the 10 kWh prototype, which uses thermochemical material (TCM) and low-temperature PCM solutions, to meet the needs of a 10-building complex with 2.5 MWth district heating and cooling capacity. The prototype was tested at CNR ITAE in Messina, Italy, before being installed recently at the Monserrat pilot site.
The other test projects are: a PCM all-in-one solution for a mixed residential/industrial building in Langenwang, Austria; a PCM heating solution for a residential building in Stockholm, Sweden; and TCM heating and cooling for a university campus serving 30,000 people in Dublin, Ireland.
Optimism for the projects are high, with projected results including a 150% increase in energy density, at least 15% energy cost savings on bills, a 20% peak load reduction with optimized storage and heat pumps, and a 25% improvement in storage density. In addition, the projects are predicted to lead to 50% reductions in deployment time and capital expenditure and a 70% reduction in design time.
IN BRIEF
• Ember LifeSciences Inc. (Westlake Village, California), raised $16.5 million in Series A funding and launched its latest cold-chain technology, Ember Cube 2, at the end of 2025. “The Ember Cube 2 is optimized for scale and efficiency to support organizations shipping high volumes of temperature-sensitive medicines and vaccines using highly efficient vacuum insulation and proprietary bio-based organic phase change material packs for thermal control,” said CEO Clay Alexander. “This new model will extend to broader healthcare networks and enable more patient-focused adoption across the supply chain.” Ember Cube 2 is larger and offers longer refrigeration times than Ember Cube. Ember Cube 2 offers more than 600 cubic inches of payload and 125 hours of refrigeration even in the most extreme summer conditions. Ember LifeSciences’ cold-chain technology has been adopted by CVS Health, Chartwell Pharmaceuticals, and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
• Azenta Inc. (Burlington, Massachusetts) announced on Dec. 29 that its affiliate, Azenta Germany GmbH, has signed a binding agreement for the sale of B Medical Systems to THELEMA S.À R.L., for $63 million. The transaction is expected to close by March 31. B Medical Systems is a global manufacturer and distributor of medical refrigeration devices based in Hosingen, Luxembourg.
• The European Patent Office has granted a patent to Beam Global (San Diego, California) for its Phase Change Composite (PCC) material, which the company says acts “as an intelligent thermal switch insulating lithium-batteries,” improving battery safety, reliability, performance, and lifespan, particularly in extreme operating environments.” “Europe is a vast market for our products and defending our competitive advantage there is just as important as defending it in the U.S.,” said Desmond Wheatley, CEO of Beam Global.
• Kraftblock co-founders Martin Schichtel and Susanne König have been selected to take part in the RESPOND Scaleup Program, which is operated by the BMW Foundation and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to accelerate the deployment of cleantech innovations through capacity-building, curated networks, and international visibility. RESPOND was drawn to the German company’s mission of decarbonizing industry through integration of renewables and cogeneration. “Kraftblock provides scalable thermal energy storage up to 1,300°C, enabling carbon-free industrial heat for sectors from food to steel,” Schichtel said.
• Registration is now open for Eurotherm Seminar #119: Contribution of Thermal Energy Storage Towards Decarbonization, which will be held May 13-15 at the University of Lleida (Spain). The seminar will bring together thermal energy storage (TES) researchers and practitioners to engage with the latest research, systems and applications; exchange knowledge with international experts; and discuss the role of TES in the energy transition. The deadline for abstracts is Feb. 15 and early bird registration is available until March 30.
• Harald Mehling, an independent consultant in R&D with a focus on heat transfer and heat storage, said he is looking for feedback on his recently published paper, “Systematic Trends in the Melting Temperature and Composition of Eutectic Binary Mixtures With One Component From a Homologous Series.” The paper posits that combining materials from a homologous series with a fixed component in a eutectic mixture allows for fine tuning the melting point.
• Green Circle Decarbonize Technology Ltd., a Hong Kong provider of phase change material thermal energy storage systems, announced on Jan. 15 the completion of its initial public offering of 2.5 million ordinary shares at $4.00 per share. The offering generated approximately $10 million in gross proceeds. The company said it will use the net proceeds for factory construction to expand production capacity, machinery acquisition, debt repayment, and general working capital.
• The BIOBUILD Horizon Europe project published a policy brief that outlines what is needed to support the widespread adoption of bio-based, energy-efficient construction materials in Europe. The Bio-based Materials for Energy Efficiency in Buildings brief recommends five primary actions: developing common testing protocols and pre-standardisation guidelines; supporting pilot projects and demonstration buildings; integrating bio-based materials into EU regulatory and financial frameworks; investing in industrial-scale manufacturing processes; and embedding life-cycle performance criteria in green building standards.
• “I’m learning a lot about PCM here,” 14-year-old Ole said of his three-week internship at Rubitherm Technologies GmbH (Berlin, Germany). The ninth grader of a Berlin high school said he finds working with phase change materials (PCM), which “can store heat or cold and release it again” particularly exciting. “PCM can be used in a variety of ways. For example, in heat storage systems, cold packs, cold storage rooms and even cars,” Ole said, adding “I find the heat storage systems the most exciting.”
JOBS
• Sunamp has the following four openings at its headquarters in Macmerry, Scotland: group finance manager, head of production and quality, supply chain and facilities manager, and test engineer. Sunamp also has an opening for a sales manager for central Italy. Visit its career page to see job descriptions and to apply.
• Cartesian (Trondheim, Norway) has an opening for an engineer with more than five years of experience in “HVAC and building automation to design, validate, and industrialize core subsystems [of the Cartesian Thermal Box].” Responsibilities fall in four categories: product development, building integration, testing, and industrialization. Applicants are asked to send their CV and a brief description of motivation for the role to helene.moller.rorvik@cartesian.no.
• Michaels Energy (La Crosse, Wisconsin) has a remote opening for a business development director, energy solutions. The business development director develops and fosters relationships to drive revenue growth through the direct sale of thermal energy storage (TES) and related energy efficiency and decarbonization solutions for refrigeration and commercial building HVAC applications. This is a remote position, located in the U.S. Visit the Michaels Energy career page to see a job description and to apply.
• A research group at the Universitat de Lleida (Lleida, Spain) has an opening for a project manager to “support the planning, monitoring and technical and administrative coordination of the projects, working closely with the research team.” Contact Professor Luisa Cabeza for more information.
PATENTS
U.S. patent application 20250389493 (applicant Cartesian AS, Trondheim, Norway):
“The invention relates to a thermal energy storage system which includes a container with a phase change material (PCM) and a heat exchange coil interacting with the PСМ. The coil is easy to produce and assemble within said system. The coil includes a plurality of internal channels for transporting a heat exchange fluid and provide a large surface area though which heat is transferred. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the coil by means of extrusion, and to a method of assembling said system.”
Method for hypothermic transport of biological samples
U.S. patent application 20250388872 (applicant Paragonix Technologies, Inc., Waltham, Massachussetts):
“A method for transporting a biological sample at hypothermic temperatures. The container can be cooled using phase change material and pump fluid through the sample. The fluid can pump through the system at a rate independent of the parameters of the biological sample. A valve can control the rate of flow of the fluid into the biological sample.”
More U.S. patent applications:
Thermal exchange module that incorporates a phase change material (Whirlpool Corp., Benton Harbor, Michigan.) | Heat-release retardative cold conduction device with multi-cavity and multi-phase change and method of calculating transfer heat thereof (CCCC First Highway Consultants Co., Ltd., Shaanxi Province, China.) | Electrohydrodynamic acceleration of charging process in a latent heat thermal energy storage module (Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.) | Pack structure including phase change material (LG Energy Solution, Ltd., Seoul, South Korea.) | Composite thermal member and method for forming same (1414 Degrees Limited, Melrose Park, South Australia.) | High thermal storage density and preparation method thereof (Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan City, China.)
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
From Journal of Energy Storage:
• Lightweight phase change aerogel composites with EGaIn and MXene for thermal energy storage and multifunctional applications
• Enhancement of thermal management performance in lithium-ion batteries using biomass-derived carbon-enhanced phase change materials
• Interface regulation of Cu-C co-modified phase change composites driven by two-step in-situ growth: synergistic enhancement of thermal conductivity and solar-thermal conversion
• Graphene-enhanced thermally flexible polyethylene glycol-based phase change materials for thermal energy storage and management
From Materials Today Chemistry:
From Solar Energy:
From Applied Thermal Engineering:
• Melting characteristics of a cone-cavity coupled spiral shell-tube phase change energy storage system
• MXene/graphene hybrid nanoparticles for high-efficiency thermal energy storage in metal-organic framework-based phase change composite
• Development and performance evaluation of MPCM slurry for battery thermal management via immersion cooling
• Dynamic melting with a flow of phase change material over an electrical element for fast latent heat thermal energy storage cooling
From Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews:
From International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer:
From Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects:
From Chemical Engineering Journal:
From Energy:
• Preparation of cold-storage microencapsulated phase change suspension: dispersion stability and thermal conductivity performance improvement
• Self-adaptive photovoltaic power generation under day-night large temperature differences enabled by phase change brine gels with high latent heat and high thermal conductivity
• Development of polyurethane rigid foam – phase change material composites with latent heat storage capacity for thermal insulation: Insights from the ECHO project
• Hybrid sand-PCM thermal energy storage driven with a solar parabolic trough concentrator for enhanced charging – discharging performance
From Journal of Building Engineering:
From Renewable Energy:
From Energy Conversion and Management:
• Heat transfer and thermal storage characteristics in sludge-based phase change composites
From Composites Part B: Engineering:
From Energy and Buildings:
• Wood fiber insulation reinforced with phase change materials for advanced hygrothermal control
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,800 people have joined a LinkedIn group devoted to the discussion of phase change material and thermal energy storage. You are invited to join the Phase Change Matters group and connect with PCM and TES experts from around the world.
This month we welcome Rosalyn Chan, marketing specialist at CVC Testing Tehcnology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China; and Mostafa Khosrowjerdi, Ph.D. mechanical engineering student at Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
NEWS TIPS
Does your company, agency or university have a job opening, new research, new product or other news you’d like to share? I would love to hear from you. Please contact newsletter editor Amy Phillips at phasechangematters@gmail.com.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
This newsletter is made possible through the generous support of the RAL Quality Association PCM and the members listed below. To learn more about the association, including membership benefits, please contact Stefan Thomann, executive director, at pcm@kellencompany.com.
Axiotherm GmbH | B Medical Systems | Croda International Plc. | ISU Chemical Co. Ltd. | RuhrTech | Microtek Laboratories | PCM Technology | PLUSS Advanced Technologies | PureTemp LLC | Rubitherm Technologies GmbH | Sasol Germany GmbH | S.Lab Asia Inc. | Sunamp Ltd. | va-Q-tec AG