Prestigious publication on electrocaloric breakthrough

Researchers from the materials department of LIST have just had the rare opportunity of having an article published in the prestigious magazine Science for a significant breakthrough that makes it possible to overcome a crucial temperature barrier.

Source : Merkur
Publication date : 12/01/2020

 

About 20% of the world's energy consumption is used for refrigeration purposes and the number of air conditioning units is expected to double by 2040 according to the International Energy Agency. After 100 years of progress, current refrigeration systems, based on vapour compression, have now reached their thermodynamic limit. They release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and are noisy. The development of highly efficient and environmentally friendly energy systems is therefore a major concern in order to mitigate global warming and promote the sustainable use of natural resources.

For several years, under the leadership of Dr Emmanuel Defay, LIST has been working on electrocaloric materials, which could replace the refrigerators of tomorrow. The team has just made a major breakthrough that makes it possible to overcome a crucial barrier by reaching a temperature difference of 13 degrees compared to the ambient temperature in a prototype heat exchanger, a new record in the field. The prestigious magazine Science has therefore published an article entitled, ‘Giant temperature span in electrocaloric regenerator’, written by LIST researchers.
 

 

Share this page: