Thermal energy management materials encompass engineered solids, fluids, and composites designed to control heat generation, transport, storage, and dissipation in devices, buildings, and wearables. The area integrates thermoelectric and thermomagnetic converters, elastocaloric and solid-state heat pumps, phase-change and thermochromic systems, and radiative or evaporative cooling structures, often with microfluidic or porous architectures. Emerging work couples these materials with machine learning, additive manufacturing, and bioinspired designs to optimize thermal performance, efficiency, and adaptability across scales from electronics to infrastructure.
Energy & Green Tech
Researchers have developed a solar cell system that uses mirrors to concentrate solar energy. In addition to electricity, it produces heat for a plant that will capture carbon from industrial emissions. The solar cells in ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Electronics & Semiconductors
In the race for lighter, safer and more efficient electronics—from electric vehicles to transcontinental energy grids—one component literally holds the power: the polymer capacitor. Seen in such applications as medical ...
Feb 18, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
When the sun goes down, solar panels stop working. This is the fundamental hurdle of renewable energy: how to save the sun's power for a rainy day—or a cold night. Chemists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a solution ...
Feb 13, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
A University of Houston professor has taken on the global challenge of reducing the staggering amount of heat generated in artificial intelligence data centers. Hadi Ghasemi, J. Willard Gibbs Distinguished Professor of Mechanical ...
Feb 12, 2026
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Engineering
A newly developed ceramic material shows record-high proton conductivity at intermediate temperatures while remaining chemically stable, report researchers from Japan. Efficient hydrogen-to-electricity conversion is critical ...
Feb 12, 2026
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Automotive
Rail commuters in cold climates like Sweden's are all too familiar with winter train delays and cancellations. The culprit is usually rail switches that freeze up or clog with snow even though they're heated. A new study ...
Feb 11, 2026
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Electronics & Semiconductors
Thermoelectric conversion devices offer a promising route for sustainable heat-to-energy conversion. They are particularly attractive for recovering energy from waste heat, such as that produced by conventional fossil fuel-based ...
Feb 3, 2026
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Engineering
University of Texas at Dallas researchers and their collaborators have developed and patented a wood-based material that can store and discharge heat to help make building temperatures more comfortable without using electricity. ...
Feb 2, 2026
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Engineering
New technology from University of Houston researchers could improve the way devices manage heat, thanks to a technique that allows heat to flow in only one direction. The innovation is known as thermal rectification, and ...
Jan 30, 2026
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Electronics & Semiconductors
MIT researchers have designed silicon structures that can perform calculations in an electronic device using excess heat instead of electricity. These tiny structures could someday enable more energy-efficient computation. ...
Jan 29, 2026
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