Self-Actuating Electrocaloric Cooling Fibers

Solid-state cooling fibers comprising an electrocaloric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer, spray-coated on a conductive fiber core electrode, and a coaxially coated single-walled carbon nanotubes outer electrode are reported. The fiber coolers can be less than 160 mu m thin and more than 8 cm long. Measured cooling Delta T of the EC fibers is 0.7 degrees C at an electric field of 100 V mu m(-1) applied between the electrodes. The fiber coolers are flexible; 2000 cycles of repeated bending to a 2.5 mm curvature radius do not significantly degrade the cooling Delta T. Self-actuated bending of the fibers is observed during the EC operation, which allows the EC fibers to move heat from one location to another without any additional driving mechanisms such as electromagnetic motors, pumps, or electrostatic actuation that are commonly used in conventional coolers. The self-actuating EC fibers represent the first ever active cooler in a thin fiber form factor.