Elastocaloric cooling: technical challenges and innovative strategies toward practical implementation

Abstract

Abstract Elastocaloric cooling is emerging as a viable solid-state competitor to standard vapor-compression systems. By utilizing the latent heat from stress-induced phase changes in shape memory alloys (SMAs), elastocaloric cooling enables thermal management with zero direct greenhouse gas emissions. This review surveys the current state of elastocaloric cooling technology, identifies the key hurdles to commercialization, and discusses engineering strategies ranging from microstructural design and manufacturing scale-up to system integration aimed at practical implementation. We structure the analysis around four key areas: (1) system fundamentals, including materials, actuation, and heat transfer; (2) material limitations, specifically the trade-off between adiabatic temperature change, fatigue life, cooling capacity and operating temperature windows; (3) the evolution of prototypes, ranging from simple conductive setups to advanced regenerative designs; and (4) the roadmap for scaling these systems up. While recent work in microstructural and compositional engineering is encouraging, a persistent challenge remains: efforts to increase the adiabatic temperature change often compromise fatigue life, while broadening the operating temperature range generally lowers peak cooling performance. Moving forward, the focus must shift to aligning material science with advanced manufacturing to address these multi-physics challenges. Elastocaloric cooling research is moving from fundamental studies toward device‑level and application‑oriented development. In the near term, it appears most promising for compact niche uses such as portable cooling, while residential and automotive applications remain longer‑term prospects pending further advances in materials and system design.