New nano-engineered thin-film thermoelectric materials from Johns Hopkins APL are reported to nearly double the efficiency of solid-state cooling at room temperature. This could make refrigerators, HVAC systems, and compact coolers significantly more energy efficient, quieter, and easier to scale, while avoiding harmful refrigerants.
Why cooling is a big climate lever
- Cooling already accounts for a large share of global electricity use across homes, retail, cold chains, data centers, and vehicles. Every percentage point of efficiency translates into major grid and emissions savings.
- AI and cloud growth are pushing thermal loads up in data centers, which is why operators invest in smarter cooling and new materials. Google’s deployment of AI control cut cooling energy up to 40 percent and still delivers about 30 percent on average, showing how much optimization headroom there is.
What is the breakthrough
Researchers at Johns Hopkins APL unveiled CHESS thin-film thermoelectric materials that nearly double the efficiency of conventional solid-state cooling at room temperature. Reports highlight scalability and potential use from household refrigeration to space systems. A Nature Communications paper describes the thin-film superlattice approach that enables practical solid-state refrigeration with improved performance.
Why it matters
- Higher coefficient of performance at room temperature compared with bulk thermoelectrics lowers electricity draw for the same cooling.
- No compressors and no fluorinated refrigerants reduces noise, maintenance, leak risk, and climate impact.
- Scalability and integration on chips or modules make it suitable for compact products and niche thermal hotspots.
How thin-film thermoelectrics work
Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect. When current passes through a junction of two materials, heat moves from one side to the other. By nano-engineering layered thin films into controlled, hierarchically engineered superlattices, researchers increase the thermoelectric figure of merit, which directly boosts cooling efficiency.
Expected gains and real-world impact
- Household refrigeration and freezers: The lab results suggest near two-fold efficiency improvements over current solid-state baselines, which could translate into sizable cuts in home electricity consumption once commercialized.
- HVAC and building cooling: Thin-film modules can target zones or supplement heat pumps to reduce cycling and improve part-load efficiency. Reviews of radiative-cooling coatings and spectrally selective materials show parallel paths to reduce building cooling demand. Thin-films can complement these passive systems.
- Data centers and electronics: Materials that pull heat efficiently at small scales pair well with the latest active cooling innovations. Microsoft recently showcased microfluidic chip cooling that removes heat up to three times more effectively than cold plates and cut GPU temperature rise by 65 percent in tests. Thin-film spot coolers could complement microfluidics at device hotspots.
- Mobility and aerospace: Silent, compact, compressor-free cooling is attractive for EV battery conditioning, sensors, and space systems, where reliability and vibration tolerance are critical.
Environmental benefits
- Lower electricity use reduces upstream emissions immediately, especially in regions with carbon-intensive grids.
- No refrigerant leakage risk from compressors, a significant climate issue with traditional vapor-compression systems.
- Quiet operation and fewer moving parts can extend device lifetimes and cut maintenance needs.
What still needs to happen
- From lab to mass production: Deposition processes, yield, and cost per watt of cooling must hit commercial targets. The APL team’s claims of scalability are promising but will need independent validation and vendor adoption.
- System-level performance: Device-level gains must translate into full system savings in real appliances and HVAC units. Early trade press coverage cites 70 to 75 percent improvements in integrated prototypes, which should be confirmed by peer-reviewed or third-party tests. (
- Standards and testing: Expect updates to test methods for solid-state coolers, similar to how radiative-cooling researchers have been aligning on consistent measurement standards.
Integrating AI for adaptive thermal management
The ideal future stack combines better materials with smart control:
- Thin-film modules handle fast, localized heat flux changes.
- AI controllers schedule and tune cooling in real time. In previous deployments, Google reported up to 40 percent cooling energy reduction and around 30 percent savings on average after full autonomy, underscoring the impact of intelligent control.
- In chips and servers, new microfluidic approaches plus thin-film spot coolers and AI control loops could reduce overcooling and cut total facility power.
Use cases to watch in the next 12 to 24 months
- Premium refrigerators and beverage coolers that market silence and energy savings. Samsung has already explored hybrid compressor plus Peltier approaches, signaling OEM interest in solid-state assist.
- Retail cold chain retrofits where modular solid-state plates add precision cooling and reduce compressor cycling.
- Rack-level and chip-level cooling in AI servers that combine microchannel liquid, thin-film spot coolers, and AI control.
- Wearables and medical devices that need silent, reliable heat management without compressors.
Buyer and builder checklist
- Ask for independent test data at room temperature and across duty cycles.
- Check module COP and lifetime under thermal cycling and vibration.
- Model whole-system energy with and without thin-film stages, not just device-level gains.
- Plan control integration so AI or rule-based logic can prioritize setpoints, prevent overcooling, and shift load to off-peak hours.
Frequently asked questions
Is this better than a heat pump
Not a replacement for all cases. Heat pumps remain the most efficient for whole-home cooling and heating. Thin-film modules shine in compact, targeted, or silent applications, or as a hybrid stage to reduce compressor runtime.
When will it reach products
The research hit public headlines September 2025. Expect pilot integrations before broad consumer rollout, similar to how data centers staged AI cooling deployment after initial results.
What about building coatings that cool without power
That is a complementary track. Radiative-cooling films and double-layer coatings can cut building heat gain and reduce HVAC loads before any active cooling engages.
Sources and further reading
- ScienceDaily and Johns Hopkins APL coverage of CHESS thin-film cooling, dated September 20, 2025. (ScienceDaily)
- SciTechDaily summary of the APL thin-film results and practical implications. (SciTechDaily)
- APL news release referencing thin-film thermoelectric devices at about two times efficiency of bulk devices. (APL)
- Nature Communications paper on nano-engineered thin-film superlattices for practical solid-state refrigeration. (Nature)
- Reviews on radiative-cooling materials and standards for buildings and passive cooling. (ScienceDirect)
- Microsoft’s microfluidic chip cooling reports and testing results. (Tom’s Hardware)
- DeepMind and Google blog posts on AI control for data center cooling. (Google DeepMind)
