A new approach to refrigeration and cooling works by repeatedly applying an electric field to long molecules called polar polymers.
Advocates of the method say it will achieve a ten-fold increase of efficiency over conventional cooling.
The new method instead takes its cooling power from the ordering and disordering of the polymers, which are distributed in a thin film just a millionth of a metre thick.
In an electric field, the molecules spontaneously line up, creating heat. Removing the field causes the polymers to cool down again as a result of the electrocaloric effect.
A similar idea called magnetic refrigeration has existed for years, employing certain materials with "magnetic dipoles" that act like tiny compass needles. Cycling the materials through a magnetic field performs a similar order/disorder dance that can remove heat.
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