MAGENTA

Today, a large proportion of the energy consumed worldwide is lost in the form of waste heat at all levels of human activity. Heat losses account for 20-50% of total energy consumption in the various industrial sectors and up to 60-70% in today’s petrol and/or diesel engines. If even a small proportion of this ‘waste heat’ could be converted into a more useful form of energy (electrical, mechanical, etc.), this would make it possible to achieve major economies of scale in global energy consumption.

As part of the MAGENTA H2020 project, we are developing entirely new thermoelectric materials based on ionic ferrofluids, i.e. colloidal dispersions of magnetic nanoparticles in ionic liquids. This is an interdisciplinary, cross-sector R&D project combining concepts and techniques from physics, chemistry and electrochemistry, and involving industrial partners. MAGENTA will produce new, versatile, cost-effective and non-toxic liquid thermoelectric materials that will contribute to an economically and environmentally sustainable energy transition in Europe.

MAGENTA H2020 proposes a completely new technological avenue in research into thermoelectric materials for waste heat recovery applications. The originality of the project lies in the recently discovered ability of ionic liquids and ferrofluids to convert thermal energy into electrical energy, i.e. colloidal dispersions of magnetic nanoparticles in ionic liquids. This is an interdisciplinary, cross-sector R&D project combining concepts and techniques from physics, chemistry and electrochemistry, with the active participation of three SMEs and one industrial partner.

Experimental and theoretical approaches will be used to gain fundamental insights into novel magneto-thermoelectric phenomena in ferrofluids. Computer simulations will enable “bottom-up” construction under optimal conditions for energy harvesting. MAGENTA’s end products, application-specific magneto-thermoelectric materials and devices, will provide innovation leadership to European companies in the waste heat recovery industries. The main user industries targeted by MAGENTA are the automotive and microelectronics sectors. Demonstration thermoelectric generators will also be produced to raise public awareness of waste heat recovery technologies.

Thanks to its fundamental, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and innovation activities, the consortium will become a seed community for building an innovation ecosystem around new magneto-thermoelectric technologies.