Buildings
Structure, lining, insulation or finish depending on family.
Phase-change material earns its keep in systems: a beam, a batt, a fibre blend, a coated steel — rarely a lone coupon.
Products below are cultural landmarks as much as SKUs.
Sectors
Transport
Mass, fire and fatigue rewrite the grade list.
Energy
Heat, voltage and hydrogen compatibility.
Consumer
The volume that pays for the mill.
Medical / food
When allowed — extractables and allergies matter.
Defence / safety
Ballistics, FR clothing, fire stops.
Products
Maria Telkes
1948
Glauber’s salt
historic
Micronal board
2000s
Ice pack
20th c.–
NASA PCM vest
1990s–
Cold-chain box
2010s–
Paraffin candle physics
historic
Battery PCM pad
2020s
Pairings
mineral-wool
Blocks heat flow; PCM stores it.
vacuum-insulation
Thickness killer; no latent trick.
gypsum-board
The usual PCM carrier in interiors.
aerogel
Ultra-low λ without a melt plateau.
If the pairing is wrong, the material will be blamed for a system fault.
Keep exploring
More in Thermal
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Mineral wool
Melted rock or glass spun into A1 batts — the default non-combustible insulation of codes.
Overall 69 🧽Polyurethane foam
The low-λ organic foam of fridges and buildings — excellent insulation, a fire design problem unless PIR and coverings are honest.
Overall 46 📦Vacuum insulated panel
A sealed vacuum sandwich — λ around 0.004–0.008 W/m·K until the envelope leaks.
Overall 44