Molecule-based Magneto/electro/mechano-Calorics

MolCal将为在近环境温度和极低温度下固态冷却和加热应用的热材料和能量转换技术的有前途的探索性课题建立一个临界质量的研究人员。温度控制系统约占欧盟能源消耗支出的一半。仅这一数字就足以证明，有必要付出巨大努力寻找替代制冷和热泵方法。一方面是节能环保的新一代冰箱和热泵的前景，另一方面是低能耗和全球变暖制冷剂的政策，对热材料的研究从未像现在这样活跃。MolCal提出了一种在类似的合作研究培训方案中从未尝试过的方法。我们将考虑在分子基材料的保护伞下，可以响应不同来源的驱动刺激的热量材料，无论是磁，电，和/或机械。由于没有明确的共识，哪种类型的热量材料最有希望，这种多方向的方法将是一个优势，因为它允许将已经从磁热学子领域发展起来的方法转移到其他领域，这些方法因其巨大的潜力而日益受到关注。此外，MolCal将开发基于低成本高压材料的设备，并且由于其分子特性，将通过探索磁性冰箱最小尺寸的限制来挑战应用。来自欧洲和国外顶尖研究机构的学术和非学术领导将使博士研究人员在化学、材料科学、物理、设备开发和相关横向技能方面接受综合、多学科和多部门的培训。

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.