Nano-engineered cooling tech could render vapour compression obsolete

Researchers from the United States have developed nano-engineered solid-state cooling technology claimed to be twice as efficient as current thermoelectric systems, with the potential to revolutionise refrigeration and climate control across multiple industries.

The innovation from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, developed with Samsung Research engineers, offers a scalable, energy-efficient alternative to traditional compressor-based refrigeration, eliminating the need for bulky systems and refrigerants.

The technology utilises specially designed thermoelectric materials known as Controlled Hierarchically Engineered Superlattice Structures, developed over a decade of research at APL. Initially created for national security applications, the technology has been used in cooling therapies for prosthetics and recently won an R&D 100 Award for innovation.

Published in Nature Communications, the team’s findings show refrigeration systems built with CHESS materials were twice as efficient as conventional thermoelectric devices at room temperature (approximately 25°C), achieving up to 75 per cent greater efficiency at module level and 70 per cent better performance in fully integrated cooling systems.

“This real-world demonstration of refrigeration using new thermoelectric materials showcases the capabilities of nano-engineered CHESS thin films,” said APL chief technologist for thermoelectrics Rama Venkatasubramanian, the joint project’s principal investigator.

“It marks a significant leap in cooling technology and sets the stage for translating advances in thermoelectric materials into practical, large-scale, energy-efficient refrigeration applications.”

The system’s core employs refined Peltier cooling – a solid-state thermoelectric process where heat transfers through electrons moving across two joined conductive materials. When current flows, one side absorbs heat while the other releases it, enabling precise cooling below ambient temperature.

Samsung Research explained the new manufacturing process “drastically reduced the amount of Peltier materials required, down to about 1/1000 of the material typically used” while simplifying production steps.

“This advancement has enhanced scalability and enabled mass production, with promising prospects for significant improvements in both cost-effectiveness and environmental impact.”

Traditional thermoelectric devices, used in small electronics including mini-fridges, have faced broader adoption barriers due to low efficiency, limited heat-pumping capacity and incompatibility with semiconductor manufacturing methods.

CHESS thin films are produced using metal-organic chemical vapour deposition – a technique already widely used in solar cells and LED lighting. This enables mass production while requiring minimal material – as little as 0.003 cubic centimetres (about the size of a grain of sand) per unit.

“This thin-film technology has the potential to expand from powering small-scale refrigeration systems to supporting large building HVAC applications, much like the way lithium-ion batteries have been scaled to power everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles,” Mr Venkatasubramanian said.

Samsung describes Peltier cooling as offering “fast and precise temperature control with a simpler configuration, making it applicable to various industrial fields, including home appliances, semiconductors, medical devices, automotive electronics and data centres.”

Future development will focus on using artificial intelligence to manage and optimise energy use in distributed cooling systems – setups where multiple smaller cooling units work together across a space rather than relying on one large central unit – aiming to improve HVAC/R efficiency.

“Beyond refrigeration, CHESS materials are also able to convert temperature differences, like body heat, into usable power,” said APL Research and Exploratory Development Mission Area exploration program area manager Jeff Maranchi.

“This opens the door to scalable energy-harvesting technologies for applications ranging from computers to spacecraft – capabilities that weren’t feasible with older, bulkier thermoelectric devices.”

As advancements continue, CHESS could reshape not only cooling but broader energy applications across automotive, industrial and consumer sectors.