New magnetic materials will help create the engines of the future

Any kind of engine converts the incoming energy to the movement of the vehicle. As a rule, this is a fairly energy efficient process, but even it can be improved. And if we take into account the fact that, according to statistics from the University of Chicago in the USA alone, 50% of all energy is generated using engines, even a small improvement in the process will save a lot. And recently, scientists have developed special magnetic materials that will help in the creation of high-energy electric motors of the future.

In order to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy for movement, all processes occur under the influence of a magnetic field. But the greater the engine speed, the greater its temperature, and as a result, some of the energy is simply dissipated as heat.

But what if the material is not heated? A group of scientists led by professor of materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University Michael McHenry wants to solve this problem by synthesizing metallic amorphous nanocomposite materials (MANCs). This is a class of soft magnetic materials that are effective at converting energy at high frequencies, allowing, while reducing the size of the engine, to provide comparable power to larger analogs.

MANC creation process

Currently, motors are mainly made of steel and silicon. MANCs are an alternative to these materials and because of their high resistance they do not heat up so much and can rotate at a much higher speed.

“As a result, you can either reduce the size of the engine at a given power, or make the engine a higher power at the same size.”

For the synthesis of MANC, scientists use liquid metal alloys that harden at extremely high temperatures. Thanks to this, the material gets new unique properties.