Highly efficient electrocaloric cooling with electrostatic actuation.

Solid-state refrigeration offers potential advantages over traditional cooling systems, but few devices offer high specific cooling power with a high coefficient of performance (COP) and the ability to be applied directly to surfaces. We developed a cooling device with a high intrinsic thermodynamic efficiency using a flexible electrocaloric (EC) polymer film and an electrostatic actuation mechanism. Reversible electrostatic forces reduce parasitic power consumption and allow efficient heat transfer through good thermal contacts with the heat source or heat sink.

Copper-based conductive composites with tailored thermal expansion.

We have devised a moderate temperature hot-pressing route for preparing metal-matrix composites which possess tunable thermal expansion coefficients in combination with high electrical and thermal conductivities. The composites are based on incorporating ZrW2O8, a material with a negative coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), within a continuous copper matrix. The ZrW2O8 enables us to tune the CTE in a predictable manner, while the copper phase is responsible for the electrical and thermal conductivity properties.