Adsorption Cooling and Heat Transformation Technologies

Adsorption cooling and heat transformation systems exploit the reversible capture and release of refrigerant vapour on solid surfaces to produce cooling or heating effects using low-grade thermal energy. These systems typically comprise cyclic beds of porous adsorbents—such as silica gel, zeolites or metal–organic frameworks—that alternately adsorb and desorb a working fluid (often water or ammonia) under controlled temperature and pressure swings. Heat inputs from waste heat streams, solar collectors or industrial processes drive the desorption phase, while ambient or chilled water removes adsorption heat during the cooling phase. Key performance metrics include the coefficient of performance (COP), which quantifies energy efficiency, and specific cooling power (SCP), which measures cooling output per unit mass of adsorbent. Recent advances focus on engineered pore structures, composite materials and integrated heat-exchange designs to enhance adsorption kinetics, thermal conductivity and overall cycle effectiveness. Such innovations promise carbon-neutral refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump applications with minimal environmental impact.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have unified the understanding of adsorption uptake across diverse porous surfaces by developing a universal isotherm model that integrates site-energy distributions with a revised Langmuir framework. This approach captures all IUPAC isotherm types on heterogeneous materials, offering predictive insight into energy distributions and enabling more accurate design of adsorption cycles. Another advance has demonstrated a zeolite-like aluminophosphate material that delivers high water uptake at low relative pressures, rapid kinetics and hydrothermal stability. When driven by temperatures as low as 63 °C, this porous adsorbent achieved a record coefficient of performance near 0.85 in a water-sorption chiller, highlighting its potential for ultra-low-temperature applications and scalable eco-friendly cooling solutions.

Adsorption Cooling and Heat Transformation Technologies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in adsorption cooling and heat transformation technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Adsorption: The process by which molecules of a fluid adhere to the surface of a solid material, releasing heat.

Adsorbent: A porous solid that captures and holds a fluid (adsorbate) on its surface.

Adsorbate: The substance (often vapour) that is captured on the adsorbent surface during adsorption.

Adsorption Isotherm: A curve describing the relationship between adsorbate uptake and pressure at constant temperature.

Coefficient of Performance (COP): A ratio of useful cooling (or heating) output to the heat input required to drive the adsorption cycle.

Specific Cooling Power (SCP): The cooling capacity delivered per unit mass of adsorbent during an adsorption cycle.

References

1. A Universal Isotherm Model to Capture Adsorption Uptake and Energy Distribution of Porous Heterogeneous Surface. Scientific Reports (2017).
2. Ultralow-temperature-driven water-based sorption refrigeration enabled by low-cost zeolite-like porous aluminophosphate. Nature Communications (2022).
3. Experimental investigation of porous carbon for cooling and desalination applications. npj Clean Water (2023).
4. Research on solar dish/Stirling engine driven adsorption-based desalination system for simultaneous co-generation of electricity and freshwater: Numerical investigation. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (2023).
5. Experimental Study of Three-Bed Adsorption Chiller with Desalination Function. Energies (2020).