Colossal barocaloric effects in plastic crystals

Bing Li (), Yukinobu Kawakita, Seiko Ohira-Kawamura, Takeshi Sugahara, Hui Wang, Jingfan Wang, Yanna Chen, Saori I. Kawaguchi, Shogo Kawaguchi, Koji Ohara, Kuo Li, Dehong Yu, Richard Mole, Takanori Hattori, Tatsuya Kikuchi, Shin-ichiro Yano, Zhao Zhang, Zhe Zhang, Weijun Ren, Shangchao Lin, Osami Sakata, Kenji Nakajima and Zhidong Zhang
Additional contact information
Bing Li: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yukinobu Kawakita: Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Seiko Ohira-Kawamura: Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Takeshi Sugahara: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University
Hui Wang: University of California
Jingfan Wang: Florida State University
Yanna Chen: National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
Saori I. Kawaguchi: SPring-8, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute
Shogo Kawaguchi: SPring-8, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute
Koji Ohara: SPring-8, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute
Kuo Li: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Dehong Yu: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), Lucas Heights
Richard Mole: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), Lucas Heights
Takanori Hattori: Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Tatsuya Kikuchi: Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Shin-ichiro Yano: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Zhao Zhang: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhe Zhang: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weijun Ren: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shangchao Lin: Florida State University
Osami Sakata: National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
Kenji Nakajima: Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Zhidong Zhang: Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2019, vol. 567, issue 7749, 506-510

Abstract: Abstract Refrigeration is of vital importance for modern society—for example, for food storage and air conditioning—and 25 to 30 per cent of the world’s electricity is consumed for refrigeration1. Current refrigeration technology mostly involves the conventional vapour compression cycle, but the materials used in this technology are of growing environmental concern because of their large global warming potential2. As a promising alternative, refrigeration technologies based on solid-state caloric effects have been attracting attention in recent decades3–5. However, their application is restricted by the limited performance of current caloric materials, owing to small isothermal entropy changes and large driving magnetic fields. Here we report colossal barocaloric effects (CBCEs) (barocaloric effects are cooling effects of pressure-induced phase transitions) in a class of disordered solids called plastic crystals. The obtained entropy changes in a representative plastic crystal, neopentylglycol, are about 389 joules per kilogram per kelvin near room temperature. Pressure-dependent neutron scattering measurements reveal that CBCEs in plastic crystals can be attributed to the combination of extensive molecular orientational disorder, giant compressibility and highly anharmonic lattice dynamics of these materials. Our study establishes the microscopic mechanism of CBCEs in plastic crystals and paves the way to next-generation solid-state refrigeration technologies.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1042-5

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