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Electrocaloric cooling
Researcher: Prof. Sungtaek Ju
Description
The electrocaloric (EC) effect is a phenomenon where a polarizable substance undergoes reversible changes in temperature with the application or removal of electric fields. It has potential applications in solid-state refrigeration and thermal management of electronics where one eliminates the use of conventional liquid/vapor refrigerants that have significant global warming potential. It promises to offer thermodynamic efficiencies superior to existing solid-state refrigeration technologies, such as the Peltier or thermoelectric cooling and the magnetoelectric cooling.
We develop techniques to rapidly screen promising materials and also device-level technologies to harness their full potential.
![](https://www.mae.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/mae/ju-electrocaloric-refrigeration-cycle-1.png)
Electrocaloric refrigeration cycle
![](https://www.mae.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/mae/ju-electrocaloric-refrigeration-cycle-2.png)