International. An international team led by Chinese and American researchers developed a new cooling method based on twisting and twisting fibers.
The study published in the journal Science described the new strategy that can significantly increase freezing efficiency compared to traditional air compressors.
The "twisting fridge" works due to the fact that twisting rubber fibers and then twisting them results in a cooling of the surface temperature, according to the study.
Researchers from China's Nankai University and the University of Texas at Dallas stretched the rubber fibers and then twisted them until they overlapped.
Releasing both the twisting and stretching produced a cooling of 16.4 degrees Celsius to a certain point, according to the study.
The heat engine efficiency of conventional refrigerators is less than 60 percent and the efficiency of the new method could reach 67 percent, said Liu Zunfeng, corresponding author of the paper and a professor at Nankai University.
Refrigeration and air conditioning consume 20 percent of the world's electrical energy, according to the International Refrigeration Institute. They also release gases that contribute significantly to global warming.
This alternative cooling technology could increase cooling efficiency in the future, reduce costs and size, according to Liu.
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences.
