Say hello to ionocaloric cooling. It’s a new way to lower temperatures with the potential to replace existing methods of chilling things with a process that is safer and better for the planet.

Typical refrigeration systems transport heat away from a space via a fluid that absorbs heat as it evaporates into a gas, which is then transported through a closed tube and condensed back into a liquid.

As effective as this process is, some of the choice materials we use as refrigerants are particularly unfriendly to the environment.