Passive Sub-Ambient Cooling from a Transparent Evap

[Lance]

Journal reference: Joule, DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.10.005

Learning from the  Camels 

 

• •
  An evaporation-insulation cooling design inspired by desert animals
• •
  Proof-of-concept demonstration with hydrogel-aerogel transparent bilayers
• •
  Cooling time increased by 400% compared with conventional single-layer designs
• •
  Model and figures of merit provided for various cooling applications
•  

A thin gel layer that mimics camel fur could help insulate objects, potentially keeping them cool for days, without electricity.

Researchers have long been interested in hydrogels, which can absorb water and then release it through evaporation to produce a passive cooling effect without power. But a key challenge has been in finding ways to make this effect last longer.

Jeffrey Grossman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues looked to camels for inspiration by combining hydrogel with a thin layer of another gel – aerogel – which is a light, porous insulating material.