Polymer based solid-state solar thermal fuels

A method of storing cyclable energy comprising:

• providing an energy storage device comprising a solar thermal fuel including a plurality of photoswitchable moieties associated with a first polymer, wherein the plurality of photoswitchable moieties include a plurality of azobenzene moieties, a plurality of stilbene moieties, a plurality of norbornadiene moieties, or a plurality of spiropyran moieties, wherein the first polymer is a polystyrene or a polyolefin and wherein the energy storage device is in solid state;
• illuminating the plurality of photoswitchable moieties, thereby converting the photoswitchable moieties to from a lower-energy state to a higher-energy metastable state;
• storing the plurality of photoswitchable moieties in the higher-energy metastable state for a period of time;
• and
• providing a trigger to cause the plurality of photoswitchable moieties to revert to the lower-energy state.

A method of manufacturing an energy storage device comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• depositing a layer of a first polymer solution on the substrate, a plurality of photoswitchable moieties associated with the first polymer, wherein the plurality of photoswitchable moieties include a plurality of azobenzene moieties, a plurality of stilbene moieties, a plurality of norbornadiene moieties, or a plurality of spiropyran moieties, wherein the first polymer is a polystyrene or a polyolefin;
• and
• solidifying the layer.