Torsional refrigeration by twisted, coiled, and supercoiled fibers

Run Wang; Shaoli Fang; Yicheng Xiao; Enlai Gao; Nan Jiang; Yaowang Li; Linlin Mou; Yanan Shen; Wubin Zhao; Sitong Li; Alexandre F Fonseca; Douglas S Galvão; Mengmeng Chen; Wenqian He; Kaiqing Yu; Hongbing Lu; Xuemin Wang; Dong Qian; Ali E Aliev; Na Li; Carter S Haines; Zhongsheng Liu; Jiuke Mu; Zhong Wang; Shougen Yin; Márcio D Lima; Baigang An; Xiang Zhou; Zunfeng Liu; Ray H Baughman

doi:10.1126/science.aax6182

Torsional refrigeration by twisted, coiled, and supercoiled fibers

Science. 2019 Oct 11;366(6462):216-221. doi: 10.1126/science.aax6182.

Authors

Run Wang^#¹, Shaoli Fang^#², Yicheng Xiao¹, Enlai Gao^{2

3}, Nan Jiang^{2

4}, Yaowang Li⁵, Linlin Mou¹, Yanan Shen¹, Wubin Zhao¹, Sitong Li¹, Alexandre F Fonseca⁶, Douglas S Galvão⁶, Mengmeng Chen¹, Wenqian He¹, Kaiqing Yu¹, Hongbing Lu⁷, Xuemin Wang^{7

8}, Dong Qian⁷, Ali E Aliev², Na Li^{2

9}, Carter S Haines², Zhongsheng Liu¹, Jiuke Mu², Zhong Wang², Shougen Yin¹⁰, Márcio D Lima¹¹, Baigang An¹², Xiang Zhou¹³, Zunfeng Liu¹⁴, Ray H Baughman¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
² Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
³ Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China.
⁴ Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁵ School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁶ Applied Physics Department, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13081-970, Brazil.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30458, USA.
⁹ Materials Science, MilliporeSigma, Milwaukee, WI 53209, USA.
¹⁰ Institute of Materials Physics, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
¹¹ Nano-Science and Technology Center, Lintec of America, Richardson, TX 75081, USA.
¹² School of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan 114051, China.
¹³ Department of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211198, China.
¹⁴ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. ray.baughman@utdallas.edu liuzunfeng@nankai.edu.cn.
¹⁵ Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA. ray.baughman@utdallas.edu liuzunfeng@nankai.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 31601765
DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6182

Abstract

Higher-efficiency, lower-cost refrigeration is needed for both large- and small-scale cooling. Refrigerators using entropy changes during cycles of stretching or hydrostatic compression of a solid are possible alternatives to the vapor-compression fridges found in homes. We show that high cooling results from twist changes for twisted, coiled, or supercoiled fibers, including those of natural rubber, nickel titanium, and polyethylene fishing line. Using opposite chiralities of twist and coiling produces supercoiled natural rubber fibers and coiled fishing line fibers that cool when stretched. A demonstrated twist-based device for cooling flowing water provides high cooling energy and device efficiency. Mechanical calculations describe the axial and spring-index dependencies of twist-enhanced cooling and its origin in a phase transformation for polyethylene fibers.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't