Josep Lluís Tamarit, professor d'ef, ha publicat junt amb altres investigadors un article a Nature Communications

Josep Lluís Tamarit, professor del Grau en Enginyeria Física, ha publicat junt amb altres investigadors un article a Nature Communications titulat "Colossal barocaloric effects near room temperature in plastic crystals of neopentylglycol" que ha tingut resó al diari El Mon del 20 d'abril de 2019 amb la notícia "Un nou material podria substituir els gasos contaminants de neveres i aires condicionats".

La publicació d'aquest article és notícia a la Sala de Premsa de la UPC amb aquest títol: Identifiquen un cristall plàstic per utilitzar-lo com a refrigerant ecològic en neveres i aires condicionats

Abstract

There is currently great interest in replacing the harmful volatile hydrofluorocarbon fluids used in refrigeration and air-conditioning with solid materials that display magnetocaloric, electrocaloric or mechanocaloric effects. However, the field-driven thermal changes in all of these caloric materials fall short with respect to their fluid counterparts. Here we show that plastic crystals of neopentylglycol (CH3)2C(CH2OH)2 display extremely large pressure-driven thermal changes near room temperature due to molecular reconfiguration, that these changes outperform those observed in any type of caloric material, and that these changes are comparable with those exploited commercially in hydrofluorocarbons. Our discovery of colossal barocaloric effects in a plastic crystal should bring barocaloric materials to the forefront of research and development in order to achieve safe environmentally friendly cooling without compromising performance.