The world's first all-temperature solid-state cooling material discovered is expected to revolutionize refrigerator cooling technology.

Researchers from the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a new type of refrigeration material called potassium hexafluorophosphate. This material is able to achieve refrigeration effects in a temperature range from room temperature to near absolute zero, making it the only solid-state phase transition refrigeration material in the entire temperature range. The related research results were published online in the journal "Nature Communications". Previously, solid-state phase transition refrigeration materials had a common defect, which was that they could only work within a very small range of temperatures near the phase transition temperature. However, in potassium hexafluorophosphate, the "full-temperature pressure card effect" was observed for the first time, allowing this material to achieve continuous refrigeration in a wide temperature range from room temperature to liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen, and even liquid helium by applying pressure. This discovery opens up a new door for the development of a new generation of efficient and environmentally friendly all-solid-state refrigeration technology, and may completely revolutionize the design concepts of refrigerators and other refrigeration equipment in the future.