• • Electrocaloric devices achieve high cooling efficiency with coefficient of performance (COP) potentially exceeding 3-5 of conventional vapor compression, addressing the 17% global electricity consumption and 4400 Mt CO2eq emissions (2020) from refrigeration.
• • Fluid-based heat-transfer EC devices enable rapid heat exchange and high cooling power density, as demonstrated by latent heat transfer systems achieving high power density (e.g., Metzdorf et al., 2024).
• • Solid-based heat-transfer configurations, such as dual-layer thin-film coolers, operate at low voltages (e.g., <100 V) for self-driven heat transfer, enabling miniaturization for microelectronics and wearable applications.
• • Thermal-resistance-modulated heat-switch architectures, using materials like relaxor ferroelectric polymers and BaZrTi1−xO3 ceramics, achieve broad temperature spans (e.g., >10 K) and tunable electrocaloric response, critical for practical refrigeration cycles.