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Towards the magnetic fridge - TechAmok
Towards the magnetic fridge - [technology] 07:29 AM EDT - Apr,22 2006 - post a comment Researchers
at the University of Cambridge have discovered a material that gives a whole
new complexion to the term 'fridge magnet'. When this alloy is placed in a
magnetic field, it gets colder. Karl Sandeman and his co-workers think that
their material - a blend of cobalt, manganese, silicon and germanium - could
help to usher in a new type of refrigerator that is up to 40 percent more
energy-efficient than conventional models.
The 'magnetic fridge' envisaged by the Cambridge team would use a phenomenon
called the magnetocaloric effect (MCE), whereby a magnetic field causes certain
materials to get warmer (a positive MCE) or cooler (a negative MCE). Although
the effect was discovered more than 120 years ago, it is only recently that
magnetocaloric materials have been known with the right properties for use in
everyday refrigeration. But several factors have so far prevented such
applications.
For one thing, some of the materials - typically metal alloys - that show the
strongest MCE contain the element gadolinium, which is very expensive. And some
of the best potential alternatives contain arsenic, raising health concerns.
Sandeman and colleagues have now found a material that is neither toxic nor
costly, and which generates significant cooling at around room temperature. The
key to the magnetocaloric behaviour is a sudden change in the magnetic state of
the compound - a so-called magnetic transition. The material is magnetic because
it contains metal atoms that themselves act like tiny bar magnets. As it is
warmed up from subzero temperatures, there comes a point where these atomic
magnets abruptly change the way in which they are lined up. This switch occurs
at different temperatures when the material is placed in a magnetic field. So
applying such a field can trigger the magnetic transition, and the resulting
realignment of atomic magnets can then cause the material to lose heat and
become colder - in other words, it shows a negative MCE.
Good story, but the original website is doing itself no favors for its credibility with the Google ads that come up in the middle of the article. |
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