New Alloy Becomes Magnetic on Heating

[Ian David]

New Alloy Becomes Magnetic on Heating

This video is short, and really pretty boring if you don’t know what’s going on. Shown is a chunk of new alloy (Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10) that undergoes a phase change, at about 125C, from a nonmagnetic material to one that is strongly magnetic.

If you bias the system with an additional, permanent magnet, heating the system past the transition temperature produces an electric current in a nearby coil, thereby converting heat to electricity.

The alloy was produced by Vijay Srivastava, Yintao Song, Kanwal Bhatti, and R. D. James at the University of Minnesota and recently published in Advanced Energy Materials.



More:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/06/new-alloy-becomes-magnetic-on-heating.html

That's 257 degrees Fahrenheit
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=125+celcius

[The Doctor.]

1. We've been waiting for this.

The only questions are 'what is the rate of conversion relative to the heat energy input?' and 'What is the maximum/optimal energy input to conversion rate?'

[Ian David]

2. I'm thinking of several applications for this.

1) Geothermal
2) Powering solar observatory craft designed to orbit close to the sun
3) Recovering thermal energy lost up smokestacks and in other industrial applications

[sakabatou]

3. Not to mention engines, exhaust and another hot places.