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"The researchers report a change in temperature for the material of about 22.6 degrees Fahrenheit..." (http://www.engr.psu.edu/newsevents/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=6367&NewsDate=8/8/2008#6367)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/ice.JPGPenn State Engineering (http://www.engr.psu.edu/newsevents/) - Aug 8, 2008

Fully electric AC anyone? -- Ed.

University Park, Pa. – Refrigerators and other cooling devices may one day lose their compressors and coils of piping and become solid state, according to Penn State researchers who are investigating electrically induced heat effects of some ferroelectric polymers.

"This is the first step in the development of an electric field refrigeration unit," says Qiming Zhang, distinguished professor of electrical engineering. "For the future, we can envision a flat panel refrigerator. No more coils, no more compressors, just solid polymer with appropriate heat exchangers."

Other researchers have explored magnetic field refrigeration, but electricity is more convenient.

Zhang, working with Bret Neese, graduate student, materials science and engineering; postdoctoral fellows Baojin Chu and Sheng-Guo Lu; Yong Wang, graduate student, and Eugene Furman, research associate, looked at ferroelectric polymers that exhibit temperature changes at room temperature under an electrical field.

These polarpolymers include poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene)-chlorofluoroethylene, however there are… http://www.engr.psu.edu/newsevents/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=6367&NewsDate=8/8/2008#6367

That's cool! :p No, really. I love this kind of advancement. Bring it on!

I'd love to have this incorporated into the seatbacks of my vehicles. :)

I wonder how efficient it is, though. After all, the Peltier effect works quite well for solid-state cooling, but is much less energy-efficient than conventional refrigeration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

Can we get the "Hypermiler discount" for our seatbacks?

I wonder how efficient it is, though. After all, the Peltier effect works quite well for solid-state cooling, but is much less energy-efficient than conventional refrigeration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

I wonder if this is one of those breakthroughs that take decades to get to market. After all it was 21 year ago when Prof. Paul Chu made a breakthrough in superconductors at the University of Houston's Physics department and I also remember an article in a 1985-6(?) copy of Newseeek that talked about how ceramic engine blocks would increase engine efficiency to 60%.

I'm still waiting.

They already have small bar-sized refrigerators with this technology. You can buy one at Walmart for $49.99! It somehow uses diodes and what-not and is pretty darned lightweight.

Hi All,

You know the Barrium Titanate is also a ferro-electric dielectric. I wonder if it heats up when you put a sudden electric field across it ?

I wonder how much an impact this would have on rapid charging and discharging of the massive capacitor that company in Texas is working on ?

I wonder how efficient it is, though. After all, the Peltier effect works quite well for solid-state cooling, but is much less energy-efficient than conventional refrigeration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

The efficiency matters less if you have a more abundant source. i.e. efficiency concern approaches 0 as abundance approaches infinity. Not necessarily how it should be in all situations, sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's really bad.