Related papers: Microscopic theory for electrocaloric effects in p…
The electrocaloric effect refers to the temperature change in a material when an electric field is applied or removed. Significant breakthroughs revealed its potential for solid-state cooling technologies in past decades. These devices…
We show that the electrocaloric (EC) effect -- e.g., the temperature change experienced by an insulator upon application of an electric bias -- lends itself to a straightforward interpretation when expressed as a Taylor series in the…
Aqueous electrolyte solutions under the influence of a temperature gradient can generate thermoelectric fields, which arise from different responses of the positive and negative charges. This is related to the thermo diffusion effect which…
We present a novel microfield approach for studying the dependence of the orientational polarization of the water in aqueous electrolyte solutions upon the salt concentration and temperature. The model takes into account the orientation of…
We present the first application of phase field modeling to electrochemistry. A free energy functional that includes the electrostatic effect of charged particles leads to rich interactions between concentration, electrostatic potential,…
Polyelectrolytes under confinement are crucial for energy storage and for understanding biomolecular functions. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze a polyelectrolyte solution confined between two oppositely charged planar…
In acceptor doped ferroelectrics and in ferroelectric films and nanocomposites, defect dipoles, strain gradients, and the electric boundary conditions at interfaces and surfaces often impose internal bias fields. In this work we delicately…
Refrigeration systems based on compression of greenhouse gases are environmentally threatening and cannot be scaled down to on-chip dimensions. In the vicinity of a phase transition caloric materials present large thermal responses to…
Temperature dependence of the capacitance of the electrical double layer (EDL) in concentrated electrolytes/ionic liquids has been under debates for decades. To rationalise the capacitance vs temperature dependence, we run molecular…
Due to critical environmental and technological issues, there is a pressing need to switch from current refrigeration methods based on compression of gases to novel solid-state cooling technologies. Solid-state cooling is based on the…
Computer simulations are used to investigate the response of a charged colloid and its surrounding microion cloud to an external electric field. Both static fields (DC) and alternating fields (AC) are considered. A mesoscopic simulation…
An improved thermodynamic cycle is proposed, where the cooling effect of an electrocaloric refrigerant is enhanced by applying a reversed electric field. In contrast to conventional adiabatic heating or cooling by on-off cycles of the…
Ferroelectrics are attractive candidate materials for environmentally friendly solid state refrigeration free of greenhouse gases. Their thermal response upon variations of external electric fields is largest in the vicinity of their phase…
Solid-state cooling applications based on the electrocaloric (EC) effect are particularly promising from a technological point of view due to their downsize scalability and natural implementation in circuitry. However, EC effects typically…
In this study, we report on a direct measurement method for the electrocaloric effect, the heating/cooling upon application/removal of an electric field in dielectric materials, based on a lock-in thermography technique. By use of…
Density functional theory is used to describe electrolyte solutions in contact with electrodes of planar or spherical shape. For the electrolyte solutions we consider the so-called civilized model, in which all species present are treated…
The influence of a chemically or electrically heterogeneous distribution of interaction sites at a planar substrate on the number density of an adjacent fluid is studied by means of classical density functional theory (DFT). In the case of…
We present a general Ginzburg-Landau theory of electrostatic interactions and electric field effects for the order parameter, the polarization, and the charge density. Electric field effects are then investigated in near-critical fluids and…
During the last few years, the increasing demand of energy for refrigeration applications has relived the interest of the scientific community in the study of alternative methods to the traditional gas-based refrigeration. Within this…
Classical theory of the electric double layer is based on the fundamental assumption of a dilute solution of point ions. There are a number of situations such as high applied voltages, high concentration of electrolytes, systems with…