Materials Research and Technology Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 41 Rue du Brill, Belvaux L-4422, Luxembourg.
University of Luxembourg, 2 Avenue de l'Université, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4365, Luxembourg.
Science. 2020 Oct 2;370(6512):125-129. doi: 10.1126/science.abb8045.
Cooling devices based on caloric materials have emerged as promising candidates to become the next generation of coolers. Several electrocaloric (EC) heat exchangers have been proposed that use different mechanisms and working principles. However, a prototype that demonstrates a competitive temperature span has been missing. We developed a parallel-plate active EC regenerator based on lead scandium tantalate multilayer capacitors. After optimizing the structural design by using finite element modeling for guidance and to considerably improve insulation, we measured a maximum temperature span of 13.0 kelvin. This temperature span breaks a crucial barrier and confirms that EC materials are promising candidates for cooling applications.
基于热质材料的冷却设备已成为下一代冷却器的热门候选者。已经提出了几种使用不同机制和工作原理的电热（EC）热交换器。然而，一直缺乏一个能展示出有竞争力的温度跨度的原型。我们开发了一种基于钽酸铅钙多层电容器的平行板主动 EC 回热器。通过使用有限元建模进行结构设计优化，并大大提高了绝缘性能，我们测量到的最大温度跨度为 13.0 开尔文。这一温度跨度打破了一个关键的障碍，证实了 EC 材料是冷却应用的有前途的候选者。
