Electronic cooling device is part fridge, part muscle

By Andy Extance2024-05-20T13:30:00

Side-by-side comparison of the self-oscillating polymeric refrigerator in both states

Source: © Springer Nature - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07375-3

Soft polymer material flexes to move heat between surfaces

By chemically modifying a soft film material, researchers in China have developed an especially lightweight, small and flexible refrigeration system, the most efficient of its kind.¹ The device, developed by Xiaoshi Qian of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and colleagues, uses an electrical field to move the film and drive heat into and out of it. ‘This is the first experimental demonstration of materials that can serve as cooling and an artificial muscle,’ Qian tells Chemistry World.

Applying an electrical field changes how disordered and strained the material is. That causes it to take in heat next to one surface, change shape to touch a different surface, release heat, then return to its original shape to start again. While the SJTU team has made films several square metres in area, they focus on circular films 20mm in diameter to cool down electronic chips.