A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction
Caloric cooling is an attractive family of technologies owing to their environmental friendliness and potential for higher efficiency than present refrigeration systems. Cooling devices based on the electrocaloric (EC) effect specifically have the added benefit of being easily miniaturized, enabling...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | JPhys Energy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/acc278 |
| _version_ | 1797834745244024832 |
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| author | Xin Chen Wenyi Zhu Alexander S Rattner Q M Zhang |
| author_facet | Xin Chen Wenyi Zhu Alexander S Rattner Q M Zhang |
| author_sort | Xin Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Caloric cooling is an attractive family of technologies owing to their environmental friendliness and potential for higher efficiency than present refrigeration systems. Cooling devices based on the electrocaloric (EC) effect specifically have the added benefit of being easily miniaturized, enabling applications in electronic thermal management, wearables and localized cooling. A challenge in prior compact EC cooling devices has been the need for a separate actuation mechanism to cyclically contact the EC material with hot and cold interfaces. Here, we propose a self-actuated EC polymer heat pump, exploiting recent discoveries of giant EC and electromechanical responses under low electric fields in P(VDF-TrFE-CFE-FA) (VDF: vinylidene fluoride, TrFE: trifluoroethylene, CFE: chlorofluoroethylene, FA: fluorinated alkynes) relaxor tetrapolymers. We show that the transverse electroactuation of P(VDF-TrFE-CFE-FA) relaxor tetrapolymer films can be tailored over a broad range, from strong actuation to weak actuation, without affecting the high EC response. Using this principle, a unimorph actuator was constructed from two EC tetrapolymer layers with large differences in electroactuation. This device autonomously achieves a large displacement between the heating and cooling cycles of the EC films, which could be used to switch thermal contact between hot and cold interfaces. This concept could thus enable highly efficient and compact EC heat pumps. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:42:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-777fd25234ff4504973632f1ea35b101 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2515-7655 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:42:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JPhys Energy |
| spelling | doaj.art-777fd25234ff4504973632f1ea35b1012023-05-03T05:06:52ZengIOP PublishingJPhys Energy2515-76552023-01-015202400910.1088/2515-7655/acc278A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostrictionXin Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8213-4704Wenyi Zhu1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2356-3159Alexander S Rattner2Q M Zhang3Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of America; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of AmericaMaterials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of America; School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of AmericaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of AmericaMaterials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of America; School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, United States of AmericaCaloric cooling is an attractive family of technologies owing to their environmental friendliness and potential for higher efficiency than present refrigeration systems. Cooling devices based on the electrocaloric (EC) effect specifically have the added benefit of being easily miniaturized, enabling applications in electronic thermal management, wearables and localized cooling. A challenge in prior compact EC cooling devices has been the need for a separate actuation mechanism to cyclically contact the EC material with hot and cold interfaces. Here, we propose a self-actuated EC polymer heat pump, exploiting recent discoveries of giant EC and electromechanical responses under low electric fields in P(VDF-TrFE-CFE-FA) (VDF: vinylidene fluoride, TrFE: trifluoroethylene, CFE: chlorofluoroethylene, FA: fluorinated alkynes) relaxor tetrapolymers. We show that the transverse electroactuation of P(VDF-TrFE-CFE-FA) relaxor tetrapolymer films can be tailored over a broad range, from strong actuation to weak actuation, without affecting the high EC response. Using this principle, a unimorph actuator was constructed from two EC tetrapolymer layers with large differences in electroactuation. This device autonomously achieves a large displacement between the heating and cooling cycles of the EC films, which could be used to switch thermal contact between hot and cold interfaces. This concept could thus enable highly efficient and compact EC heat pumps.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/acc278electrocaloric coolingpolymer actuatorsferroelectric polymer |
| spellingShingle | Xin Chen Wenyi Zhu Alexander S Rattner Q M Zhang A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction JPhys Energy electrocaloric cooling polymer actuators ferroelectric polymer |
| title | A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| title_full | A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| title_fullStr | A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| title_full_unstemmed | A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| title_short | A self-actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| title_sort | self actuated electrocaloric polymer heat pump design exploiting the synergy of electrocaloric effect and electrostriction |
| topic | electrocaloric cooling polymer actuators ferroelectric polymer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/acc278 |
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