Maryland Energy and Sensor Technologies

Thermoelastic cooling is a novel solid-state cooling technology. It is based on the latent heat associated with reversible martensitic phase transformations. The latent heat in martensites had been studied and utilized for several decades, but most of the applications had been for actuation or heat engine. Little attention had been paid to the potential of the thermoelastic effect for cooling and refrigeration applications. Our goal is to develop applications of the thermoelastic cooling technology for commercial use across various industries.

Key Publications

• Huilong Hou, Emrah Simsek, Tao Ma, Nathan S. Johnson, Suxin Qian, Cheikh Cisse, Drew Stasak, Naila  Al Hasan, Lin Zhou, Yunho Hwang, Reinhard Radermacher, Valery I. Levitas, Matthew J. Kramer, Mohsen Asle, Zaeem, Aaron P. Stebner, Ryan T. Ott, Jun Cui, Ichiro Takeuchi, “Fatigue-resistant high-performance elastocaloric materials by additive manufacturing,” Science 366, 1116 (2019).
• Jun Cui, Yiming Wu, Jan Muehlbauer, Yunho Hwang, Reinhard Radermacher, Manfred Wuttig, Ichiro Takeuchi, Demonstration of high efficiency elastocaloric cooling with large DT using NiTi wires., Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 073904 (2012).

In the News

• In November 2018, MEST is awarded the U.S. patent on thermoelastic cooling (US10119059B2).

• In March 2014, The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) rated the thermoelastic cooling as the most promising technology for Energy Savings Potential and RD&D Opportunities for Non-Vapor-Compression HVAC Technology.   For Full Report (Click here)