Xavier Moya has been studying these properties of these “plastic crystals“ In his laboratory within the prestigious British university. In addition to his research in Cambridge, he created in 2019 a startup, Barocal, to concretely apply the discoveries of his research group. It employs nine people and has its own laboratory, for the moment a modest container in a parking lot.
But the “young shoot“Make emulated: she has raised in recent years about years 4 million euroswith in particular the European Innovation Council, an EU program associating the United Kingdom, and Breakthrough Energy, an organization created by the American billionaire Bill Gates.
Inside the container, the premier prototype Air conditioner is the size of a large suitcase: far from being a miracle of miniaturization, it also buzzes quite noisily when a hydraulic circuit increases or decreases the pressure in the four cylinders filled with crystals.
But he works. A small refrigerator is attached to the system and the soda cans that are there are perfectly fresh.