A new composite zeolite/foam aluminum is proposed to enhance heat and mass transfer for adsorption refrigeration. The effective thermal conductivity of this composite material is 2.89 W/m K measured by the hot disk method with the same performance of adsorption of a zeolite packed bed. On the basis of the linear driving force non-equilibrium adsorption model, the performance of the composite zeolite/foam aluminum-water mass recovery adsorption refrigeration device driven by engine exhaust gases is calculated. The results show that mass recovery could reduce the cycle time and improve the value of SCP compared with the basic cycle. especially at short cycle time. Comparing with the zeolite-water system, the composite zeolite/foam aluminum-water system has much higher COP, SCP and SWP at short cycle time because of the enhancement of the heat transfer. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.