Samsung and Johns Hopkins APL Unveil Breakthrough Thin-Film Peltier Cooling Technology
- Achieves up to 75% improvement in cooling efficiency without refrigerants
- Reduces material usage by a factor of 1,000, simplifying manufacturing
- Applicable across home appliances, healthcare, automotive, and data centers
- Marks a major step toward commercializing sustainable, refrigerant-free cooling
Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), has published groundbreaking research in Nature Communications under the title:
“Nano-Engineered Thin-Film Thermoelectric Materials Enable Practical Solid-State Refrigeration.”
The paper highlights a transformative advance in Peltier cooling technology, which enables high-efficiency cooling without the need for harmful refrigerants.
A Leap Forward in Peltier Cooling
The Peltier effect occurs when an electric current is applied to a semiconductor, causing one side to cool while the other heats up. Cooling systems based on this effect are solid-state, requiring no refrigerants, and are therefore considered an environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional cooling methods.
Through nanoengineering, Samsung’s Life Solutions team and Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian’s research group at APL successfully developed ultrathin semiconductor films and demonstrated the world’s first high-performance thin-film Peltier refrigerator.
Key Advantages Over Conventional Cooling
Compared with traditional vapor-compression cooling systems, the new technology offers:
- Superior efficiency in cooling performance
- Faster cooling speeds and highly precise temperature control
- Simplified design that enables versatile applications
Potential uses extend well beyond household appliances to include semiconductor cooling, medical devices, automotive electronics, and large-scale data centers.
75% Higher Efficiency, 1/1,000 the Materials
Most notably, this innovation improves cooling efficiency by approximately 75% compared with conventional Peltier devices. At the same time, it slashes material usage to just 1/1,000 of traditional requirements, streamlining production and enabling smaller, lighter designs. These breakthroughs open the door to mass production, reduced costs, and dramatically lower environmental impact.
Toward Commercialization of Sustainable Cooling
With this achievement, the prospect of commercializing refrigerant-free, high-efficiency cooling technology is rapidly becoming a reality. The collaboration between Samsung and Johns Hopkins APL represents a potential turning point in the global shift toward sustainable, next-generation cooling solutions.
