Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy

Hongyang Lin; Peng Hua; Yang Li; Qiao Li; Kaiping Yu; Jie Yan; Yusuke Onuki; Qiuhong Wang; Changfeng Su; Guoan Zhou; Shigeo Sato; Kai Huang; Junhua Luan; Yi Kuen Lee; Mingxin Huang; Yong Yang; Yang Ren; Qingping Sun

doi:10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449

Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy

Hongyang Lin, Peng Hua^*, Yang Li, Qiao Li, Kaiping Yu, Jie Yan, Yusuke Onuki, Qiuhong Wang, Changfeng Su, Guoan Zhou, Shigeo Sato, Kai Huang, Junhua Luan, Yi Kuen Lee, Mingxin Huang, Yong Yang, Yang Ren, Qingping Sun^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal Article › peer-review

Abstract

Elastocaloric cooling utilizes the latent heat of shape memory alloys (SMAs) during cyclic phase transition and has emerged as an environmentally-friendly technology. However, existing SMAs exhibit either unsatisfactory cyclic stability or insufficient adiabatic temperature drop (ΔT), constraining the development of this technology. Here, we develop a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo SMA which retains a stable and large ΔT of 17 K over 1 × 10⁸ phase-transition cycles. The large ΔT originates from the large entropy change of B2-B19′ phase transition in the Cu-lean B2 matrix. The ultra-high cyclic stability is realized by inhibiting dislocation motion via precipitation hardening of uniformly distributed Ti(Ni,Cu)₂ nanoprecipitates. Our nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo demonstrates high competitiveness among existing SMAs, serving as a cornerstone for the development of high-performance elastocaloric cooling devices.

Original language	English
Article number	149449
Journal	Materials Science and Engineering: A
Volume	949
Early online date	11 Nov 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449
Publication status	Published - Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Cyclic response
Elastocaloric effect
Martensitic transformation
Precipitation hardening
Shape memory alloys (SMAs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449

Cite this

Lin, H., Hua, P., Li, Y., Li, Q., Yu, K., Yan, J., Onuki, Y., Wang, Q., Su, C., Zhou, G., Sato, S., Huang, K., Luan, J., Lee, Y. K., Huang, M., Yang, Y., Ren, Y., & Sun, Q. (2026). Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 949, Article 149449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449

@article{8fbe3fcea7794532a1f254b7a90c5db1,

title = "Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy",

abstract = "Elastocaloric cooling utilizes the latent heat of shape memory alloys (SMAs) during cyclic phase transition and has emerged as an environmentally-friendly technology. However, existing SMAs exhibit either unsatisfactory cyclic stability or insufficient adiabatic temperature drop (ΔT), constraining the development of this technology. Here, we develop a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo SMA which retains a stable and large ΔT of 17 K over 1 × 108 phase-transition cycles. The large ΔT originates from the large entropy change of B2-B19′ phase transition in the Cu-lean B2 matrix. The ultra-high cyclic stability is realized by inhibiting dislocation motion via precipitation hardening of uniformly distributed Ti(Ni,Cu)2 nanoprecipitates. Our nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo demonstrates high competitiveness among existing SMAs, serving as a cornerstone for the development of high-performance elastocaloric cooling devices.",

keywords = "Cyclic response, Elastocaloric effect, Martensitic transformation, Precipitation hardening, Shape memory alloys (SMAs)",

author = "Hongyang Lin and Peng Hua and Yang Li and Qiao Li and Kaiping Yu and Jie Yan and Yusuke Onuki and Qiuhong Wang and Changfeng Su and Guoan Zhou and Shigeo Sato and Kai Huang and Junhua Luan and Lee, \{Yi Kuen\} and Mingxin Huang and Yong Yang and Yang Ren and Qingping Sun",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449",

language = "English",

volume = "949",

journal = "Materials Science and Engineering: A",

issn = "0921-5093",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy

AU - Lin, Hongyang

AU - Hua, Peng

AU - Li, Yang

AU - Li, Qiao

AU - Yu, Kaiping

AU - Yan, Jie

AU - Onuki, Yusuke

AU - Wang, Qiuhong

AU - Su, Changfeng

AU - Zhou, Guoan

AU - Sato, Shigeo

AU - Huang, Kai

AU - Luan, Junhua

AU - Lee, Yi Kuen

AU - Huang, Mingxin

AU - Yang, Yong

AU - Ren, Yang

AU - Sun, Qingping

PY - 2026/1

Y1 - 2026/1

N2 - Elastocaloric cooling utilizes the latent heat of shape memory alloys (SMAs) during cyclic phase transition and has emerged as an environmentally-friendly technology. However, existing SMAs exhibit either unsatisfactory cyclic stability or insufficient adiabatic temperature drop (ΔT), constraining the development of this technology. Here, we develop a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo SMA which retains a stable and large ΔT of 17 K over 1 × 108 phase-transition cycles. The large ΔT originates from the large entropy change of B2-B19′ phase transition in the Cu-lean B2 matrix. The ultra-high cyclic stability is realized by inhibiting dislocation motion via precipitation hardening of uniformly distributed Ti(Ni,Cu)2 nanoprecipitates. Our nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo demonstrates high competitiveness among existing SMAs, serving as a cornerstone for the development of high-performance elastocaloric cooling devices.

AB - Elastocaloric cooling utilizes the latent heat of shape memory alloys (SMAs) during cyclic phase transition and has emerged as an environmentally-friendly technology. However, existing SMAs exhibit either unsatisfactory cyclic stability or insufficient adiabatic temperature drop (ΔT), constraining the development of this technology. Here, we develop a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo SMA which retains a stable and large ΔT of 17 K over 1 × 108 phase-transition cycles. The large ΔT originates from the large entropy change of B2-B19′ phase transition in the Cu-lean B2 matrix. The ultra-high cyclic stability is realized by inhibiting dislocation motion via precipitation hardening of uniformly distributed Ti(Ni,Cu)2 nanoprecipitates. Our nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo demonstrates high competitiveness among existing SMAs, serving as a cornerstone for the development of high-performance elastocaloric cooling devices.

KW - Cyclic response

KW - Elastocaloric effect

KW - Martensitic transformation

KW - Precipitation hardening

KW - Shape memory alloys (SMAs)

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105021484148

U2 - 10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449

DO - 10.1016/j.msea.2025.149449

M3 - Journal Article

AN - SCOPUS:105021484148

SN - 0921-5093

VL - 949

JO - Materials Science and Engineering: A

JF - Materials Science and Engineering: A

M1 - 149449

ER -

Ultra-stable and large elastocaloric effect in a nano-precipitated bulk TiNiCuCo shape memory alloy

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this