It’s a different way of looking at refrigeration technology, and it’s the science behind CaloriCool, a new research collaboration of national laboratories, universities, and corporate partners, led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.
Caloric materials generate cooling effects when cyclically acted upon by magnetic, electric, or mechanical forces. These materials hold great promise as components of a less expensive, more energy efficient, and environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional vapor compression refrigeration technologies used today. CaloriCool’s mission is to design, develop, and test these materials for adoption into commercial use.
CaloriCool is one of four consortia that make up DOE’s Energy Materials Network (EMN). The EMN accelerates innovation around the clean energy industry’s most pressing materials challenges from early development stages to manufacturing.