Note: Experimental setup for measuring the barocaloric effect in polymers: Application to natural rubber.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Thermodynamics
• Sustainable Technologies

Background:

• Barocaloric materials offer a sustainable alternative to traditional vapor-compression refrigeration.
• The barocaloric effect (BCE) in many material classes remains underexplored.
• Polymers represent a largely uninvestigated class of materials for BCE applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel high-pressure experimental setup for measuring the barocaloric effect (BCE) in polymers.
• To address the gap in understanding BCE in polymeric materials.
• To enable simultaneous measurement of temperature, pressure, and strain during barocaloric cycles.

Main Methods:

• Design and construction of a specialized high-pressure apparatus.
• Integration of sensors for real-time temperature, pressure, and strain monitoring.
• Testing the system's functionality using natural rubber as a model polymer.

Main Results:

• The developed setup is fully functional for measuring BCE in polymers.
• Natural rubber samples demonstrated significant temperature variations due to the barocaloric effect.
• Acquired strain-temperature data allows for indirect calculation of isothermal entropy change.

Conclusions:

• The new experimental setup effectively measures the barocaloric effect in polymers.
• Polymers, exemplified by natural rubber, exhibit substantial temperature changes under pressure, highlighting their potential for solid-state cooling.
• This work paves the way for further investigation of BCE in diverse polymeric materials for advanced refrigeration applications.