Magnetocaloric effect in nanostructured materials

Dr. Daniel Ortega

Funding : Royal Society of Chemistry

Duration: 2014 - 2015

24 months

Magnetocaloric (MC) and giant-magnetocaloric (GMC) materials, those showing a reversible temperature change in response to a changing magnetic field are key for the development of magnetic refrigeration at room temperature. This technology would reduce considerably the current consumption of electricity caused by refrigeration and airconditioning. Scaling these down to the nanoscale opens up a new range of applications for MC and GMC materials: lighter and highly permeable MC materials for small devices or nanofluids for more efficient cooling systems for high-power- density devices. Furthermore, it has been envisioned that MC and GMC nanomaterials would contribute to cater the new demands of modern medicine, especially diagnostics and therapeutics. Besides exploring the MC effect at the nanoscale, this project is devoted to design MC and GMC nanomaterials for technological and medical applications.