The era of burning power to fight heat may finally be coming to an end. Researchers at the Germany\u2019s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Japan\u2019s University of Tsukuba have introduced the \u201cworld\u2019s first\u201d heat-driven, elastocaloric solid-state cooling system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the system doesn\u2019t require electric motors and runs directly on ambient warmth, waste heat, or sunlight. It links two ultra-thin nickel-titanium (NiTi) shape-memory alloy films to eliminate the need for an electric motor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crucial innovation is that we combine two complementary functions of shape memory alloys, with one film converting heat into mechanical work and the other film converting this work into cold,\u201d explained Dr. Jingyuan Xu, who leads the Young Investigator Group of the ZEco Thermal Lab at KIT\u2019s Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis way, we\u2019re establishing a new approach to drive solid-state cooling, thereby opening up exciting possibilities for the use of waste heat and solar energy,\u201d Xu added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two film structures\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cooling and heating consume nearly half of global\u00a0energy.<\/a>\u00a0Meanwhile, chemical refrigerants continue to leak into the atmosphere, worsening the climate crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Early models of solid-state\u00a0\u201celastocaloric<\/a>\u201d materials offered a greener path because these alloys cool down when stretched and released. However, those early systems still used electricity to drive the mechanical force.<\/p>\n The new approach removes the plug altogether by pairing two paper-thin nickel-titanium films that work in tandem.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first film acts as the system\u2019s internal engine. When exposed to warmth, this\u00a0shape-memory alloy<\/a>\u00a0contracts sharply, converting thermal energy directly into a powerful mechanical pulling force without needing an electric motor. This mechanical action instantly stretches the second film, acting as the refrigerator. As the load releases, reversible structural shifts within the metal drop its temperature drastically, generating cold air directly from heat.<\/p>\n The system utilizes a 22-micrometer one-way shape-memory alloy actuator film paired with a 26.5-micrometer superelastic alloy refrigerant film. The mini actuator foil generates a high force-to-displacement ratio of 14.5 N\/mm \u2014 outperforming comparable commercial electromechanical actuators by more than ten times.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shows promise in testing\u00a0<\/p>\n In initial experiments, the prototype successfully proved its practical feasibility by delivering a 4\u00b0C (39 F) component-level temperature drop and nearly 13\u00b0C (55 F) of cooling in the elastocaloric material using an 86\u00b0C (186 F) actuator input. The system also demonstrated robust real-world capabilities by operating reliably when powered by external\u00a0heat<\/a> sources reaching up to 130\u00b0C.<\/p>\n \u201cThe decisive moment for us was when we were able to measure the cold that had indeed been generated by a heat-driven system. This showed us that the principle doesn\u2019t just work in theory,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Yi-Ting Hsiau, lead author of the study and doctoral researcher at the IMT.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0study<\/a>, elastocaloric cooling is far more efficient than existing compact technologies. It can reach up to 84 percent of its maximum theoretical cooling efficiency, leaving other thermoelectric cooling modules far behind.<\/p>\n Although current prototypes serve as early feasibility models, researchers are actively scaling the system\u2019s cooling output by connecting multiple alloy films in parallel. Future practical applications include using processor exhaust heat to self-cool computer chips and repurposing drivetrain heat to\u00a0c<\/a>ool<\/a>\u00a0automotive electronics.<\/p>\n High-performance computer chips could soon use their own exhaust heat to stay cool. Electric vehicles could chill their sensitive cabin electronics using thermal waste from the drivetrain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The era of burning power to fight heat may finally be coming to an end. Researchers at the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1035668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[25],"tags":[414398,414399,414400,6574,2096,3555,492,159,414401,67,132,68,242931],"class_list":["post-1035667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-physics","tag-cooling-system","tag-elastocaloric","tag-electric-motor","tag-energy-amp-environment","tag-heat","tag-inventions-and-machines","tag-physics","tag-science","tag-shape-memory-alloy","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-waste-heat"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117192276436998458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}