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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Mechanocaloric effects in superionic thin films from atomistic simulations
Daniel ErrandoneaArun K. SagotraClaudio Cazorlasubject
Materials scienceScienceGeneral Physics and AstronomyIonic bonding02 engineering and technologyCooling capacity01 natural sciencesGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyArticlechemistry.chemical_compound0103 physical sciencesThin filmlcsh:Science010306 general physicsAdiabatic processElectrical conductorMultidisciplinaryQSilver iodideRefrigerationBiaxial tensile testGeneral Chemistry021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologychemistryChemical physicslcsh:Q0210 nano-technologydescription
Solid-state cooling is an energy-efficient and scalable refrigeration technology that exploits the adiabatic variation of a crystalline order parameter under an external field (electric, magnetic, or mechanic). The mechanocaloric effect bears one of the greatest cooling potentials in terms of energy efficiency owing to its large available latent heat. Here we show that giant mechanocaloric effects occur in thin films of well-known families of fast-ion conductors, namely Li-rich (Li3OCl) and type-I (AgI), an abundant class of materials that routinely are employed in electrochemistry cells. Our simulations reveal that at room temperature AgI undergoes an adiabatic temperature shift of 38 K under a biaxial stress of 1 GPa. Likewise, Li3OCl displays a cooling capacity of 9 K under similar mechanical conditions although at a considerably higher temperature. We also show that ionic vacancies have a detrimental effect on the cooling performance of superionic thin films. Our findings should motivate experimental mechanocaloric searches in a wide variety of already known superionic materials.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-10-01 | Nature Communications |