Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, have created an alternative cooling system for refrigerators. The typical method is for devices to transport heat away from it through a gas, which can be harmful to the environment.
The new process introduced by the researchers in their paper, published in Science, is called ionocaloric cooling. This method removes that gas part of the cooling process and replaces it with ions. Under this new system, the researchers propose having a current with ions running through a refrigerator. This will shift the melting point inside to change the temperature.
The charged particles or ions can melt a block of ice, and the experts also added salt to the ionocaloric cycle to cool the surroundings of the device, which in turn will lower the temperature of the refrigerator inside.
The team now aims to get the newly-developed technology out of their lab and into systems that can be used commercially. "We have this brand-new thermodynamic cycle and framework that brings together elements from different fields, and we've shown that it can work," mechanical engineer Ravi Prasher shared. "Now, it's time for experimentation to test different combinations of materials and techniques to meet the engineering challenges."
Image credit: cottonbro studio
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