The cooling device includes an electrocaloric portion including an electrocaloric effect material, a first thermal switch including a first actuator, and a second thermal switch including a second actuator, in which a thickness and a length of the first actuator and the second actuator are changed depending on an electric field to be applied.

A method of making an electrocaloric is disclosed. The method includes: (a) providing a roll of a film comprising an electrocaloric material or a supply of multiple sheets of a film comprising an electrocaloric material; (b) delivering film from the roll or the supply of multiple sheets to a conductive material application station; (c) forming electrodes comprising a patterned disposition of conductive material on the film at the application station to form an electrocaloric article (d) delivering film from the application station to a take-up roll or an inventory of electrocaloric sheets; and (e) repeating (b), (c), and (d) to form multiple electrocaloric articles.

A method of realizing a ferroic response is provided. The method includes applying a first conjugate field to a ferroic material in a non-singular-stepwise manner and applying a second conjugate field to the ferroic material in a non-singular-stepwise manner.

A method of realizing a ferroic response is provided. The method includes applying a positive or negative conjugate field, which is of a first polarity, to a ferroic material to obtain a substantially minimized entropy of the ferroic material (301) and applying a slightly negative or a slightly positive conjugate field, which is of a second polarity opposite the first polarity, to the ferroic material to obtain a substantially maximized entropy of the ferroic material (302).

An electrocaloric module includes an electrocaloric element that includes an electrocaloric film, a first electrode on a first surface of the electrocaloric film, and a second electrode on a second surface of the electrocaloric film. A support is attached along an edge portion of the electrocaloric film, leaving a central portion of the electrocaloric film unsupported film. At least one of the first and second electrodes includes a patterned disposition of conductive material on the film surface. The electrocaloric module also includes a first thermal connection configured to connect to a first thermal flow path between the electrocaloric element and a heat sink, a second thermal connection configured to connect to a second thermal flow path between the electrocaloric element and a heat source, and a power connection connected to the first and second electrodes and configured to connect to a power source.

A method of making an electrocaloric article is disclosed. The method includes mounting a supported electrocaloric film to a frame. The supported electrocaloric film includes an electrocaloric film and a first support film disposed on a first side of the electrocaloric film. An active area of the electrocaloric film is provided, which is not covered by the first support film on the first side of the electrocaloric film. Electrical connections are provided to electrodes disposed on opposing sides of the electrocaloric film in the active area.

In at least one illustrative embodiment, a cooling system includes a heat source, multiple electrocaloric material layers coupled to the heat source, and a heat sink coupled to the electrocaloric material layers. An electric field applied to each electrocaloric material layer is independently controllable. The electric field applied to each electrocaloric material layer is operable to move heat energy from the heat source to the heat sink during an interval, and to restore initial conditions of the electrocaloric material layers during a subsequent interval. The heat sink, the electrocaloric material layers, and the heat source may be bonded together. The electrocaloric material layers and the heat source may be bonded together, and the heat sink may be removably coupled to the electrocaloric material layers. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

A ferroelectric polymer electrocaloric nanowire array and a preparation method thereof, in which the ferroelectric polymer electrocaloric material is formed by a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based ferroelectric polymer electrocaloric nanowire array embedded in a porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The PVDF-based ferroelectric polymer electrocaloric material is controlled to form a nanowire array embedded in the porous AAO template, and through adopting of a solution infiltration method to prepare the ferroelectric polymer electrocaloric nanowire array in the porous AAO template and improvement of the key morphology, structure, internal microscopic connection construction of the ferroelectric polymer, problems, such as low electrocaloric strength of the ferroelectric polymer, difficult heat conduction in the electrocaloric material and low refrigerating power density of the electrocaloric device in the prior art, can be effectively solved.

A cooling apparatus that cools a cooling target object in a state in which an electromagnetic field or an electric field acts on the cooling target object and that is capable of efficiently causing a subcooling state of the object is provided. The cooling apparatus includes a refrigeration machine to cool an cooling target object, an electromagnetic wave irradiation device to generate an electromagnetic field which acts on the cooling target object and intensity of which is variable, a controller to control operations of the refrigeration machine and the electromagnetic wave irradiation device and perform a subcooling operation of cooling the cooling target object by using the refrigeration machine in a state in which the electromagnetic field is generated, and a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of the cooling target object. In the subcooling operation, the controller controls the intensity of the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic wave irradiation device in accordance with the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

A device and process for the production and transfer of heating and cooling power are described, in which a resonant electric circuit having at least one capacitor with a dielectric of electrocaloric material connected to an inductor is used. The resonant circuit comprises a variable electrical power supply section with a working frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of the circuit.