Sustainable all-solid elastocaloric cooler enabled by non-reciprocal heat transfer

Jiongjiong Zhang, Mengyao Chen, Wenmei Luo, Baojie Wei, Tianlin Luo, Xiangying Shen (), Baowen Li () and Guimei Zhu ()
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Jiongjiong Zhang: Southern University of Science and Technology
Mengyao Chen: Southern University of Science and Technology
Wenmei Luo: Southern University of Science and Technology
Baojie Wei: Southern University of Science and Technology
Tianlin Luo: Southern University of Science and Technology
Xiangying Shen: Southern University of Science and Technology
Baowen Li: Southern University of Science and Technology
Guimei Zhu: Southern University of Science and Technology

Nature Sustainability, 2025, vol. 8, issue 6, 651-660

Abstract: Abstract Non-reciprocal heat transfer has the potential to shape the landscape of high-performance solid-state elastocaloric cooling technology as an eco-friendly alternative of traditional vapour-compression refrigeration with environmental issues. However, neither the working principle nor the technical route of combining non-reciprocal heat transfer with solid-state caloric cooling system is clear. Here we establish a framework for the development of non-reciprocal heat-transfer-enabled solid-state elastocaloric devices. We first illustrate theoretically that the thermal rectification ratio of non-reciprocal heat transfer unit is strongly correlated with the elastocaloric cooling performance. We further build an all-solid-state elastocaloric cooler prototype incorporated with a meta-material designed non-reciprocal heat transfer unit for efficient heat transfer and stable operations. With a thermal rectification ratio of 6.5, the cooler exhibits cooling power of 174.8 mW corresponding to a cooling heat flux of 242.8 mW cm−2. The cooler with non-reciprocal heat transfer units survives a long device-level operational fatigue life of over 2 million cycles without failure under the buckling-resistant compressive loading. Our work suggests new space for the design of next-generation cooling systems embracing sustainability.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01552-6

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