Roadmap for electrocaloric films characterizationRegis de Moraes, Victor (Avtor) Tomc, Urban (Avtor) Kitanovski, Andrej (Avtor) Uršič Nemevšek, Hana (Avtor) simulation in materials sciencematerials characterization techniquesfilmsIR thermographythin-film coatingselectrocaloric elementsThe development of electrocaloric (EC) elements for cooling technologies has progressed by integrating the EC layers onto various substrates. However, a precise understanding of heat losses on direct characterization methods is still lacking, particularly in the infrared (IR) camera method. In this work, we perform numerical simulations on EC film structures to benchmark the substrate influence on the cooling output of the structure for characterization purposes. Substrates with low thermal effusivity (≤3 kW ▫$s^{1/2} m^{−2} K^{−1}$▫) exhibit minimal influence on the output of films. Simulations were also performed to investigate the impact of EC film and black-paint coating thicknesses on the correction factor for IR characterization methods. A single-digit correction factor can be achieved if the EC film is thicker than the coating. Our results offer a roadmap for designing EC structures for cooling at the micro-to-nano scales.Elsevier20262026-06-03 09:40:50Neznano29680Nizozemskasl© 2026 The Authors.