Electric field raises heat conduction in a ceramic by nearly 300%, ORNL study finds
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory study found an electric field raises heat conduction in a ceramic by nearly 300%, pointing to more efficient cooling.
Photo by FOX ^.ᆽ.^= ∫ on Pexels
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have shown a way of controlling heat with electricity, raising heat conduction in a ceramic by close to 300 percent along one direction. The work, published in the journal “PRX Energy” and described in an ORNL announcement covered by ScienceDaily on July 11, 2026, was carried out with The Ohio State University and Amphenol Corporation. It points toward more efficient cooling systems and devices that recover waste heat.
The material is a relaxor-based ferroelectric. When an electric field is applied, heat travels almost three times more efficiently along the field direction than across it. Earlier work on bulk ferroelectric materials had raised thermal conductivity by only 5 to 10 percent.
How controlling heat with electricity works
Heat moves through a solid as phonons, tiny atomic vibrations. In the ORNL experiments, applying an electric field aligned the internal electric charges of the ceramic. That alignment reduced the scattering that normally stops phonons, so the vibrations survived longer and carried heat farther. The team measured both faster phonons and longer phonon lifetimes in the direction of the field, known as the poling direction.
A near-threefold jump measured with neutrons
To see what the atoms were doing, the team used inelastic neutron scattering at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by ORNL. Neutrons can reveal both a crystal’s structure and how its atoms move. The crystals were grown and then exposed to the electric field, or “poled,” by Raffi Sahul at Amphenol Corporation. The measurements linked the rise in heat flow directly to the changes in atomic vibration.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Lead laboratory | Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE) |
| Partners | The Ohio State University; Amphenol Corporation |
| Material | Relaxor-based ferroelectric ceramic |
| Mechanism | Electric field aligns charges, extends phonon lifetimes |
| Measurement | Inelastic neutron scattering, Spallation Neutron Source |
| Heat conduction gain | About 300% along the poling direction |
| Earlier bulk ferroelectrics | 5 to 10% |
| Journal | “PRX Energy”, 2026 |
| Funding | DOE Basic Energy Sciences |
Source: ORNL; “PRX Energy”, 2026; reported by ScienceDaily, 11 July 2026.
“Being able to control both how fast and in what manner heat flows could lead to devices that manage thermal energy far more efficiently,” said Puspa Upreti, an ORNL postdoctoral research associate. Michael Manley, the ORNL senior researcher who led the neutron experiments with staff scientist Raphael Hermann, said the new measurements showed an enhancement “close to 300 percent,” because the phonons travel much longer before they stop.
Why better heat control saves energy
Steering heat matters because so much energy is spent moving it or losing it. The ORNL team lists several uses for a material whose heat flow can be switched and directed: solid-state cooling with no moving parts, converting heat into electricity, cooling chip-based electronics, and cogeneration systems that capture and reuse waste heat from industry. Each is a route to lower energy use, the case for eco-efficiency that pairs innovation with lower resource use.
The waste-heat angle is the clearest. Much of the energy used in industry and computing ends up as heat that is thrown away. A material that channels heat on command could make recovery easier, an idea Winss Solutions has examined in capturing natural and waste heat as a sustainable solution.
Background on managing heat in electronics and industry
Controlling heat is a long-standing engineering problem. Conventional cooling relies on vapour-compression cycles with moving parts and refrigerants, while a wave of research aims to replace them with solid-state methods that use materials rather than fluids. Thermoelectric and radiative-cooling materials are part of that shift; the ORNL result adds a way to steer heat inside a single crystal by switching an electric field on or off.
The finding is at the laboratory stage. It was measured on grown, poled crystals at a national neutron facility, and turning it into commercial cooling chips or heat-recovery devices would take further engineering. The thermal-conductivity experiments were designed by the late Professor Joseph Heremans of Ohio State, who guided doctoral candidate Delaram Rashadfar through the analysis. “Professor Heremans always stressed the importance of trusting the data first and letting the theory follow,” Rashadfar said, describing how the threefold result held up against expectations of a smaller effect.
Sources: ScienceDaily; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; PRX Energy
Featured image: photo by FOX ^.ᆽ.^= ∫ on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
