Develop Advanced Energy Materials
·
Enhance Heat Transfer
·
Construct Sustainable Cooling Systems
for Future Green Refrigeration
We are looking for Postdocs, PhD students, and Research Assistants in the areas of energy materials and sustainable cooling.
PI: Dr. Guoan ZHOU
Presidential Assistant Professor, IAAM Fellow
Email: guoazhou@cityu.edu.hk
Research
Solid Mechanics, Materials Innovation, System Engineering
Phase Transition
- The core principle is a stress-induced solid-to-solid phase transition.
- When mechanically stretched or compressed, the material's crystal lattice reconfigures, releasing latent heat and causing a temperature rise.
- Upon stress release, the lattice instantly reverts and absorbs thermal energy from surroundings, generating cooling.
Elastocaloric Materials
- The adiabatic temperature change, typically 10–30 K, measures peak heating/cooling magnitude.
- Fatigue resistance determines operational lifespan under repeated mechanical cycling.
- Low phase-transition stress to remain practical, efficient, and economically viable for commercial cooling.
System Integration
- Multi-material cascade architecture for large temperature lifts. To cascade multiple shape memory alloys with distinct phase-transition temperatures.
- Multi-cell architecture for kilowatt-scale cooling power. Scaling elastocaloric device from laboratory prototype to practical systems demands innovative architecture design.
