Materials for Magnetocaloric Applications

Materials for Magnetocaloric Applications


Program:
IDEAS
Award:
$500,000
Location:
Boston, Massachusetts
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
09/01/2016 - 12/31/2017

Technology Description:

Northeastern University, in partnership with the Ames Laboratory, will evaluate a range of new magnetocaloric compounds (AlT2X2) for potential application in room-temperature magnetic cooling. Magnetic refrigeration is an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional vapor-compression cooling technology. The magnetocaloric effect is triggered by application and removal of an applied magnetic field—adjusting the magnetic field translates into an adjustment in the temperature of the material. The benchmark magnetocaloric materials are based on the rare earth metal gadolinium (Gd), but gadolinium is scarce in the earth's crust and prohibitively expensive. Other magnetocaloric materials have similar rarity and cost constraints, or are brittle and undergo large volume changes during magnetic transition. Volume changes are problematic because a magnetocaloric working material must maintain mechanical and magnetic integrity over 300 million cycles in a ten-year lifetime. The Northeastern-led team is proposing to explore new magnetocaloric materials, AlT2X2 (where T=Fe, Mn, and/or Co, and X = B and/or C) comprised of abundant, non-toxic elements that can undergo a structural transition near room temperature. The material is projected to meet or exceed the performance of other candidate magnetocaloric materials due to its potential ease of fabrication, corrosion resistance, high mechanical integrity maintained through caloric phase change, and low heat capacity that fosters effective heat transfer. The project objectives are to ascertain the most promising compositions and magnetic field and temperature combinations to realize the optimal magnetocaloric response in this compound.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Joseph King
Project Contact:
Prof. Laura H. Lewis
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
lhlewis@neu.edu

Partners

Ames National Laboratory

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