Researchers design a new material with refrigerating properties
The on line version of Nature Communications publishes this month the work about this new material exhibiting an inverse barocaloric effect: they cool when pressure is applied, and they warm when it is released. The research has been undertaken by researchers from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.BarcelonaTECH and Universitat de Barcelona, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
ABSTRACT
Application of hydrostatic pressure under adiabatic conditions causes a change in temperature in any substance. This effect is known as the barocaloric effect and the vast majority of materials heat up when adiabatically squeezed, and they cool down when pressure is released (conventional barocaloric effect). There are, however, materials exhibiting an inverse barocaloric effect: they cool when pressure is applied, and they warm when it is released. Materials exhibiting the inverse barocaloric effect are rather uncommon. Here we report an inverse barocaloric effect in the intermetallic compound La-Fe-Co-Si, which is one of the most promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration through its giant magnetocaloric effect. We have found that application of a pressure of only 1 kbar causes a temperature change of about 1.5 K. This value is larger than the magnetocaloric effect in this compound for magnetic fields that are available with permanent magnets.
Inverse barocaloric effect in the giant magnetocaloric La–Fe–Si–Co compound
The inverse barocaloric effect is due to that materials, under a certain temperature, experience a phase transition that entails structural and magnetic properties changes, as a result of an important magneto-structural coupling. Recently, it has been discussed the possibility to use this kind of material, with simultaneous changes of magnetization and structure, in energy harvesting devices.
Application of hydrostatic pressure under adiabatic conditions causes a change in temperature in any substance. This effect is known as the barocaloric effect and the vast majority of materials heat up when adiabatically squeezed, and they cool down when pressure is released (conventional barocaloric effect). There are, however, materials exhibiting an inverse barocaloric effect: they cool when pressure is applied, and they warm when it is released. Materials exhibiting the inverse barocaloric effect are rather uncommon. Here we report an inverse barocaloric effect in the intermetallic compound La-Fe-Co-Si, which is one of the most promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration through its giant magnetocaloric effect. We have found that application of a pressure of only 1 kbar causes a temperature change of about 1.5 K. This value is larger than the magnetocaloric effect in this compound for magnetic fields that are available with permanent magnets.
Inverse barocaloric effect in the giant magnetocaloric La–Fe–Si–Co compound
The inverse barocaloric effect is due to that materials, under a certain temperature, experience a phase transition that entails structural and magnetic properties changes, as a result of an important magneto-structural coupling. Recently, it has been discussed the possibility to use this kind of material, with simultaneous changes of magnetization and structure, in energy harvesting devices.
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