Electrocaloric effect enhanced thermal conduction of a multilayer ceramic structure*

Abstract

The electrocaloric effect of ferroelectric ceramics has been studied extensively for solid-state caloric cooling. Generally, most ferroelectric ceramics are poor thermal conductors. In this work, the possibility of enhancing the thermal conduction of ferroelectric ceramics through the electrocaloric effect is studied. A multilayer ceramic structure is proposed and the proper sequential electric field is applied to each ceramic layer. The result shows that the thermal conduction of the multilayer structure is significantly enhanced because of the electrocaloric effect of the ferroelectric ceramics. As a result, the work finds an alternatively way of applying the electrocaloric effect, prompting thermal conduction.