Efficient and affordable thermomagnetic materials for harvesting low grade waste heat

Industrial processes release substantial quantities of waste heat, which can be harvested to generate electricity. At present, the conversion of low grade waste heat to electricity relies solely on thermoelectric materials, but such materials are expensive and have low thermodynamic efficiencies. Although thermomagnetic materials may offer a promising alternative, their performance remains to be evaluated, thereby hindering their real-world application. Here we evaluate the efficiency and cost effectiveness of thermomagnetic materials that can be used in motors, oscillators and generators for converting waste heat to electricity. Our analysis reveals that up to temperature differences of several 10 K the best thermomagnetic materials outperform thermoelectric materials. Importantly, we find that the price per watt for some thermomagnetic materials are much lower compared to present-day thermoelectrics and can become competitive with conventional power plants. The materials library that we present here enables the selection of the best available thermomagnetic materials for harvesting waste heat and gives guidelines for their future development.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures (incl. 2 Ashby plots

Mechanisms of stress generation and relaxation during pulsed laser deposition of epitaxial Fe-Pd magnetic shape memory alloy films on MgO

Mechanical stress generation during epitaxial growth of Fe–Pd thin films on MgO from pulsed laser deposition is a key parameter for the suitability in shape memory applications. By employing in situ substrate curvature measurements, we determine the stress states as a function of film thickness and composition. Depending on composition, different stress states are observed during initial film growth, which can be attributed to different misfits. Compressive stress generation by atomic peening is observed in the later stages of growth. Comparison with ex situ x-ray based strain measurements allows integral and local stress to be distinguished and yields heterogeneities of the stress state between coherent and incoherent regions. In combination with cross-sectional TEM measurements the relevant stress relaxation mechanism is identified to be stress-induced martensite formation with (111) twinning

Growth and martensitic transformation of ferromagnetic Co-Cr-Ga-Si epitaxial films

During cooling, conventional martensitic transformation can only be realized from austenite to martensite. Recently, a so-called reentrant martensitic transformation attracted much interest due to an additional transformation from martensite to austenite during further cooling. Obviously, materials with this reentrant transformation will increase the number of physical effects and possible applications. However, until now, only bulk samples have been available, which are not suitable for applications in micro-devices. In this work, we focus on the Co-Cr-Ga-Si system and examine the suitability of this system for the growth of thin films. We observed that the films grow epitaxially on MgO (100) substrates and exhibit a martensitic transformation if deposited at a sufficiently high temperature or with an additional heat treatment. Films within the austenite state are ferromagnetic while films within the martensitic state just exhibit a very low ferromagnetic order

What is the speed limit of martensitic transformations?

Structural martensitic transformations enable various applications, which range from high stroke actuation and sensing to energy efficient magnetocaloric refrigeration and thermomagnetic energy harvesting. All these emerging applications benefit from a fast transformation, but up to now their speed limit has not been explored. Here, we demonstrate that a thermoelastic martensite to austenite transformation can be completed within 10 ns. We heat epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga films with a nanosecond laser pulse and use synchrotron diffraction to probe the influence of initial temperature and overheating on transformation rate and ratio. We demonstrate that an increase in thermal energy drives this transformation faster. Though the observed speed limit of 2.5 × 1027 (Js)1 per unit cell leaves plenty of room for further acceleration of applications, our analysis reveals that the practical limit will be the energy required for switching. Thus, martensitic transformations obey similar speed limits as in microelectronics, as expressed by the Margolus–Levitin theorem

Solving the puzzle of hierarchical martensitic microstructures in NiTi by (111)-oriented epitaxial films

The martensitic microstructure decides on the functional properties of shape memory alloys. However, for the most commonly used alloy, NiTi, it is still unclear how its microstructure is built up because the analysis is hampered by grain boundaries of polycrystalline samples. Here, we eliminate grain boundaries by using epitaxially grown films in (111)B2 orientation. By combining scale-bridging microscopy with integral inverse pole figures, we solve the puzzle of the hierarchical martensitic microstructure. We identify two martensite clusters as building blocks and three kinds of twin boundaries. Nesting them at different length scales explains why habit plane variants with ⟨011⟩B19' twin boundaries and {942} habit planes are dominant; but also some incompatible interfaces occur. Though the observed hierarchical microstructure agrees with the phenomenological theory of martensite, the transformation path decides which microstructure forms. The combination of local and global measurements with theory allows solving the scale bridging 3D puzzle of the martensitic microstructure in NiTi exemplarily for epitaxial films

Magnetic nanostructures by adaptive twinning in strained epitaxial films

We exploit the intrinsic structural instability of the Fe70Pd30 magnetic shape memory alloy to obtain functional epitaxial films exhibiting a self-organized nanostructure. We demonstrate that coherent epitaxial straining by 54% is possible. The combination of thin film experiments and large-scale first-principles calculations enables us to establish a lattice relaxation mechanism, which is not expected for stable materials. We identify a low twin boundary energy compared to a high elastic energy as key prerequisite for the adaptive nanotwinning. Our approach is versatile as it allows to control both, nanostructure and intrinsic properties for ferromagnetic, ferroelastic and ferroelectric materials.Comment: Final version. Supplementary information available on request or at the publisher's websit