# Large barocaloric effects at low pressures in natural rubber

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates that vulcanized natural rubber exhibits large barocaloric effects at relatively low pressures, making it a promising material for solid-state refrigeration applications.

## Contribution

It provides direct measurements of barocaloric effects in natural rubber and compares its performance favorably with other polymers, highlighting its potential for cooling technologies.

## Key findings

- Temperature change ({}T) exceeds 10 K at 173 MPa
- Isothermal entropy change ({}ST) of 21 J/kg·K at 43.4 MPa
- Natural rubber outperforms PVDF-TrFE-CTFE in similar conditions

## Abstract

Barocaloric effect in vulcanized natural rubber (V-NR) has been investigated. Direct measurements of the temperature change ({\Delta}T) around room temperature (283-333 K) resulted in large values, above 10 K, for a pressure change of 173 MPa. A power law was proposed to fit {\Delta}T as function of the maximum pressure, showing to be suitable for the barocaloric effect in V-NR. Strain was measured as a function of temperature at constant pressures in order to obtain the isothermal entropy change ({\Delta}ST). At 293 K, we obtained a {\Delta}ST of 21 J.kg-1K-1 for a pressure change of only 43.4 MPa. The results presented in this work are compared with those reported recently for PVDF-TrFE-CTFE polymer, showing a better barocaloric performance for V-NR in similar temperature and pressure ranges. These findings evidence the high potential of V-NR for application in solid-state refrigeration based on confined compression, opening new possibilities for i-caloric materials.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1701.05237