Climate-friendly cooling chips- are they the future of refrigeration?
- ByStartupStory | September 24, 2021
Chemicals used in air conditioning, freezers and refrigeration have long hurt the environment by destroying the ozone layer and polluting water sources, but technology is starting to change the way we keep cool. While the global warming impact has been reduced in recent years, refrigerants still have issues with toxicity and flammability. Phononic, a startup based in Durham North Carolina, is using a material called bismuth telluride to make so-called cooling chips.
Tony Atti, Phononic co-founder and CEO explained that “When electricity runs through the chip the current takes heat with it leaving one side of the chip to cool and the other to heat up.” Depending on how many coolants are needed, the chips can be as small as a fraction of a fingernail or as big as a fist. So far they have been used to create compact freezers for vaccine transportation or for ice cream at convenience stores. It’s about “cooling and heating our modern world responsibly, without toxic refrigerants,” states the company.
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