Nanoconfinement-Induced Giant Electrocaloric Effect in Ferroelectric Polymer Nanowire Array Integrated with Aluminum Oxide Membrane to Exhibit Record Cooling Power Density.

The electrocaloric effect (ECE) offers a unique mechanism to realize environmentally friendly and highly efficient solid-state cooling that completely differs from the conventional vapor-compression refrigeration. Here a new class of hybrid films composed of ferroelectric polymer nanowire array and anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane is reported, which displays pronounced ECE driven by relatively low electric fields. Under confinement and orientation of AAO channels on the crystallization of the polymer, the polymer nanowire array shows substantially enhanced ECE that is about three times that of the corresponding thin films. Simultaneously, the integrated AAO membrane forms thermally conducting channels for the polymer nanowires, enabling the efficient transfer of cooling energy and operation of the EC materials under high frequencies, which are unattainable based on the currently available EC structures. Consequently, the integrated polymer nanowire-AAO hybrid film exhibits the state-of-the-art cooling power density, outperforming the current ferroelectric polymers, ceramics, and composites. This work opens a new route for the development of scalable, high-performance EC materials for next-generation refrigeration.