Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley have developed a new cooling process called ionocaloric cooling that has the potential to revolutionize cooling methods and benefit the environment.
Conventional cooling systems use gases that can be harmful to the environment. The new study, ionocaloric cooling, cools its surroundings by utilizing the energy stored or released during a material’s phase change, such as the conversion of solid ice to liquid water.
It can provide a temperature change of 25 degrees
The cooling process involves adding charged particles or ions to trigger melting without raising the temperature significantly. In this context, a current passing through the system changes the melting point of the material by moving the ions in it. This indirectly changes the temperature.
This approach has the potential to be more environmentally friendly and efficient than existing refrigerants.
The researchers tried a salt made of iodine and sodium to dissolve ethylene carbonate, a common organic solvent used in lithium-ion batteries. This can make the system not only climate neutral but even climate positive, meaning it can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The ionocaloric cycle has shown promising results in the lab, outpacing other cooling technologies by providing a temperature change of 25 degrees Celsius on a charge of less than a single volt. The researchers aim to balance three key factors: the global warming potential (GWP) of the refrigerant, energy efficiency, and equipment cost.
The next step for researchers will be to make the technology available for practical commercial use and potentially apply it to heating systems as well.
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