Summary: UCLA researchers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed an innovative device designed to optimize heat transport with improved efficiency and flexibility.
Background: Heat transfer technologies play a crucial role in a wide range of applications, from thermoelectric coolers to vapor-compression systems, enabling effective heat transport in various devices. However, current systems often face significant limitations, including minimal flexibility, increased bulkiness, and suboptimal heat pumping efficiency. These constraints hinder their integration into next-generation applications such as wearable and flexible electronics, compact cooling systems, and other space-constrained or adaptive environments. Recent innovations, such as electrocaloric materials capable of absorbing or releasing heat in response to an applied electric field, have shown promise. Despite this progress, these systems still suffer from inefficient heat transfer mechanisms and rigid designs, restricting their versatility and broader applicability. Consequently, there remains an unmet need for the development of a highly efficient, lightweight, and flexible heat transfer solution that can meet the demands of advanced and emerging technologies.
Innovation: To address these limitations, UCLA researchers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a novel active cooling device for efficient and enhanced heat transport. This device contains flexible electrocaloric elements that can enhance heat transport through controlled deformation under an electric field. The device uses deformable electrocaloric layers that can make or break thermal contact in response to an electric field, allowing directional and controlled heat transfer. The multilayered design of this innovation maximizes the thermal gradient, which allows for consistent heat transfer and dissipation in a synchronized cycle. Use of high performance electrocaloric materials and controlled electric fields allows for efficient heat transfer at small scales. This device provides improved efficiency from the state-of-the-art and can be used in applications requiring flexible and efficient methods of heat transfer.
Potential Applications: • Flexible electronics • Medical devices • Microelectronics • Automotive systems
Advantages: • Flexibility and conformability • Efficient cooling and refrigeration • Small scale • Versatile materials
Development-To-Date: The technology has been published in Science: A self-regenerative heat pump based on a dual-functional relaxor ferroelectric polymer. Reference: UCLA Case No. 2025-042
Related Technology:
A Tandem-Structured Cooling Device Driven by Electrostatic Force (Case No. 2021-041)
Lead Inventor: Qibing Pei