Russian scientists have developed a flexible composite material that can convert magnetic fields into electricity, according to the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The development is intended for use in industry.
Scientists have created a flexible composite material based on polymers and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles, capable of converting magnetic fields into electrical voltage. This conversion can be used in the creation of sensors, wireless devices, and energy harvesting systems capable of operating using ambient magnetic fields rather than electricity.
In modern electronics, materials that can efficiently convert various forms of energy, such as magnetic into electrical, are important. Multiferroics, which possess magnetic and electrical properties, are used in sensors, data storage systems, and energy harvesting devices. They differ from conventional electronic materials that operate only on electricity. Due to their ability to respond to magnetic and electrical fields simultaneously, multiferroics allow for the creation of more compact and energy-efficient devices.
However, most multiferroics are rigid and brittle, making them unsuitable for flexible electronics. Therefore, specialists are working on creating elastic analogs that would maintain high energy conversion efficiency. Employees of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences have successfully solved this problem.
The scientists chose a silicone elastomer as the base—a soft and flexible polymer based on organosilicon compounds. It was combined with a film of polyvinylidene fluoride, which can generate electricity upon deformation. Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were added to this mixture. The specialists also created samples where part of the cobalt ions in the nanoparticles were replaced with zinc or nickel, which allowed for changing the magnetic properties of the material.
They placed the composites in an alternating magnetic field with varying strength at different points. Under the influence of the field, the silicone elastomer with nanoparticles bent and deformed the polyvinylidene fluoride layer. This material, in turn, created an electrical voltage.
It turned out that magnetic fields are most effectively converted into electrical voltage using a sample in which cobalt is partially replaced by zinc. This material proved to be three times more effective than pure cobalt ferrite and comparable to some piezoelectric generators in wireless sensors.
We have shown that even small changes in the composition of nanoparticles can significantly enhance the magnetoelectric effect. This is especially important for creating compact and lightweight devices, such as power supplies for wearable electronics. In the future, such materials may form the basis of energy-efficient technologies that collect energy from ambient electromagnetic fields. We plan to proceed to the manufacture of a prototype and offer a device that will be inexpensive, durable, and lightweight.
Earlier, scientists at the Higher School of Economics found out how to achieve superconductivity at elevated temperatures. Russian physicists were able to provoke the transition of matter into a special state through correlated chaos.
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