Flexible Magnetocaloric Fiber Mats for Room-Temperature Energy Applications.

Currently, magnetocaloric refrigeration technologies are emerging as ecofriendly and more energy-efficient alternatives to conventional expansion-compression systems. However, major challenges remain. A particular concern is the mechanical properties of magnetocaloric materials, namely, their fatigue under cycling and difficulty in processing and shaping.

Functionalized magnetic composite nano/microfibres with highly oriented van der Waals CrI inclusions by electrospinning.

This study reports on the synthesis of highly oriented chromium triiodide (CrI) magnetic inclusions inside nano/microfibres with a polyethylene oxide matrix, prepared by the electrospinning technique. The structural, microstructural and spectroscopic analysis shows uniformly dispersed CrI nanosized inclusions inside the fibres, presenting a C2/m monoclinic structure at room temperature, where their c-axis is perpendicular to the fibre mat plane and the ab layers are in-plane. Analysis of the magnetic properties show that the samples have a ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition at ∼55-56 K, lower than that of bulk CrI.