Ionocaloric cooling: The end of refrigerants?
- PostedPublished 30 March 2023
- VASA MembersVASA Members
A new approach to refrigeration known as ionocaloric cooling takes advantage of how heat is stored when a material changes from a solid to a liquid and could spell the end of refrigerants as we know them.

When a material melts it absorbs heat from its surroundings, when it solidifies it releases heat.
In the ionocaloric method – developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – when current is added to the material, ions flow and change the material from a solid to a liquid, absorbing heat from the environment.
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- CategoriesIn SightGlass
- TagsSightGlass News Issue 28, solid state cooling