Molecule-based Magneto/electro/mechano-Calorics

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MolCal will contribute to establishing a critical mass of researchers in promising exploratory topics on caloric materials and energyconversion technologies for solid-state cooling and heating applications at near-ambient and very-low temperatures. Temperaturecontrol systems are responsible for approximately half of the EU energy consumption expenditure. This figure alone amply justifiesthe need to dedicate great efforts to the search for alternative refrigeration and heat pump methods. Research on caloric materialshas never been as active as it is now, due to the prospect of new-generation refrigerators and heat pumps that are energy efficientand environmentally friendly, on the one hand, and the policies on low-energy consumption and global warming refrigerants, on theother. MolCal presents an approach never tried before in similar collaborative research training programmes. We will consider caloricmaterials that fall under the umbrella of molecule-based materials and can respond to different sources of the driving stimulus, be itmagnetic, electric, and/or mechanical. Since there is no clear-cut consensus on which type of caloric material holds the most promise,this multi-front approach will be an advantage because it will permit transfer of methods already developed from the magnetocaloricsubfield into the others, which are increasingly in the spotlight because of their enormous potentiality. Furthermore, MolCal willdevelop devices based on low-cost barocaloric materials and, due to the molecular characteristics, will progress towards challengingapplications by exploring the limits of the smallest size of magnetic refrigerators. Academic and non-academic leaders, from topresearch institutions in Europe and outside, will expose the doctoral researchers to integrative, multidisciplinary, and multisectoraltraining in chemistry, materials science, physics, device development, and relevant transversal skills.