Nature Communications (Jun 2019)

Force-driven reversible liquid–gas phase transition mediated by elastic nanosponges

  • Keita Nomura,
  • Hirotomo Nishihara,
  • Masanori Yamamoto,
  • Atsushi Gabe,
  • Masashi Ito,
  • Masanobu Uchimura,
  • Yuta Nishina,
  • Hideki Tanaka,
  • Minoru T. Miyahara,
  • Takashi Kyotani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10511-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Conventional cooling systems rely on environmentally harmful halocarbons, while alternatives based on solid–solid transitions do not reach the required performance. Here the authors demonstrate using water and alcohol as refrigerants, through their confinement in nanosponges and their release by mechanical pressure.