Development of Film-based Polymer Elastocaloric Cooler

IMT is a one-stop-shop for advanced micro and nano system development and upscaling. For every posed challenge, our skilled multidisciplinary teams develop novel technological and application-oriented solutions at forefront of the state-of-the-art. Our up-to-date technology platform is also accessible through the KNMFi services. The in-house lithography capabilities range down to 6 nm lateral resolution, and is coupled with our extensive know-how in fabrication process development. Our talented young scientists cover a wide range of applications and technology platforms. We extensively educate M.Sc. and Ph.D. thesis students, and our alumni hold key positions at the top technology addresses.

Refrigeration consumes a significant portion of global electricity, and demand is projected to grow continuously in the coming years. Elastocaloric cooling, a novel solid-state cooling technology, holds strong potential to reshape the market due to its high efficiency and environmental friendliness. Utilizing film-based elastocaloric materials offers the advantage of more effective heat transfer due to their high surface-to-volume ratio. Moreover, applying polymer films in elastocaloric cooling can significantly reduce overall costs compared to shape memory alloys, making this technology more viable for practical applications.Your thesis work will involve the basic material characterization of novel elastocaloric polymer films, focusing on their thermal and mechanical properties. In addition, you will design, fabricate, and develop an elastocaloric cooling demonstrator utilizing these materials for systematic research.This is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary project that offers you the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge research and development in polymer-based elastocaloric cooling technology. It will also allow you to deepen your experimental skills and engineering knowledge. Furthermore, there is the potential to contribute to conference and/or journal publications as a co-author.To support your work, IMT provides access to extensive, state-of-the-art facilities, including a 600 m² cleanroom, rapid prototyping equipment (such as 3D printers and laser cutters), laboratories for assembly and joining technologies, and various advanced metrological laboratories. Intensive supervision will ensure that the project is completed within the scheduled timeframe.
Your Tasks:
• Characterization of elastocaloric polymer samples
• Design and development of lab-scale prototypes for elastocaloric cooling
• Analysis and optimization of the performance of the integrated elastocaloric cooling system

Requirements for students:

• A strong background knowledge in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and mechanics
• Expertise in CAD, LabVIEW programming
• Experience in microfabrication is a plus

Faculty departments

• Engineering sciences
• Electrical engineering & information technologies
• Mechanical engineering
• Mechatronics & information technologies
• Mechanical Engineering
• Energy Engineering and Management
• Physics