Shearo-caloric effect enhances elastocaloric responses in polymer composites for solid-state cooling

Shixian Zhang; Yuheng Fu; Xinxing Nie; Chenjian Li; Youshuang Zhou; Yaqi Wang; Juan Yi; Wenlai Xia; Yiheng Song; Qi Li; Chuanxi Xiong; Suxin Qian; Quanling Yang; Qing Wang

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50870-4

Nature Communications (Aug 2024)

Shearo-caloric effect enhances elastocaloric responses in polymer composites for solid-state cooling

Shixian Zhang,
Yuheng Fu,
Xinxing Nie,
Chenjian Li,
Youshuang Zhou,
Yaqi Wang,
Juan Yi,
Wenlai Xia,
Yiheng Song,
Qi Li,
Chuanxi Xiong,
Suxin Qian,
Quanling Yang,
Qing Wang

Affiliations

Shixian Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Yuheng Fu: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Xinxing Nie: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Chenjian Li: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Youshuang Zhou: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University
Yaqi Wang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Juan Yi: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Wenlai Xia: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Yiheng Song: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Qi Li: Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University
Chuanxi Xiong: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Suxin Qian: Department of Refrigeration and Cryogenic Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Quanling Yang: State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Qing Wang: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50870-4
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Room-temperature elastocaloric cooling is considered as a zero-global-warming-potential alternative to conventional vapor-compression refrigeration technology. However, the limited entropy and large-deformation features of elastocaloric polymers hinder the creation of the breakthrough in their caloric responses and device development. Herein, we report that the addition of a small amount of inorganic nanofillers into the polymer induces the aggregate of the effective elastic chains via shearing the interlaminar molecular chains, which provides an additional contribution to the entropy in elastocaloric polymers. Consequently, the adiabatic temperature change of −18.0 K and the isothermal entropy change of 187.4 J kg−1 K−1 achieved in the polymer nanocomposites outperform those of current elastocaloric polymers. Moreover, a large-deformation cooling system with a work recovery efficiency of 56.3% is demonstrated. This work opens a new avenue for the development of high-performance elastocaloric polymers and prototypes for solid-state cooling applications.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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