Keeping Nanophotonics Cool

Yichen contributed to MIT research related a new radiative cooling approach.

MIT researchers have devised a new way of providing cooling on a hot sunny day, using inexpensive materials and requiring no fossil fuel-generated power. The passive system could be used to supplement other cooling systems to preserve food and medications in hot, off-grid locations.

In theory, the system they designed could provide cooling of as much as 20 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) below the ambient temperature in a location like Boston, the researchers say. So far, in their initial proof-of-concept testing, they have achieved a cooling of 6 C (about 11 F).