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HEDoctoral network2024–2027

MolCal · Molecule-based magneto/electro/mechano-Calorics

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2024-01-01 → 2027-12-31
EU contribution
€2,038,781
Participants
13
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Molecule-based magneto/electro/mechano-Calorics

MolCal was conceived to tackle one of Europe’s most pressing energy challenges: the need for sustainable, efficient refrigeration and heat pump technologies. Today, vapour-compression systems dominate the market, but they rely on greenhouse gases and have reached the limits of efficiency mprovements. MolCal proposes a radically different approach based on molecule-driven caloric materials—systems that change temperature and entropy when exposed to magnetic, electric, or mechanical stimuli.These materials promise compact, energy-efficient devices that can operate both near ambient temperature and at cryogenic conditions. The project aims to design and synthesize new molecular assemblies, explore their magnetocaloric, electrocaloric, and mechanocaloric properties, and integrate them into prototype devices. At the same time, MolCal is training a new generation of researchers through a multidisciplinary programme that combines chemistry, physics, materials science, and engineering, ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of innovation in solid-state cooling.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

MolCal will contribute to establishing a critical mass of researchers in promising exploratory topics on caloric materials and energy conversion technologies for solid-state cooling and heating applications at near-ambient and very-low temperatures. Temperature control systems are responsible for approximately half of the EU energy consumption expenditure. This figure alone amply justifies the need to dedicate great efforts to the search for alternative refrigeration and heat pump methods. Research on caloric materials has never been as active as it is now, due to the prospect of new-generation refrigerators and heat pumps that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly, on the one hand, and the policies on low-energy consumption and global warming refrigerants, on the other. MolCal presents an approach never tried before in similar collaborative research training programmes. We will consider caloric materials that fall under the umbrella of molecule-based materials and can respond to different sources of the driving stimulus, be it magnetic, 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 magnetocaloric subfield into the others, which are increasingly in the spotlight because of their enormous potentiality. Furthermore, MolCal will develop devices based on low-cost barocaloric materials and, due to the molecular characteristics, will progress towards challenging applications by exploring the limits of the smallest size of magnetic refrigerators. Academic and non-academic leaders, from top research institutions in Europe and outside, will expose the doctoral researchers to integrative, multidisciplinary, and multisectoral training in chemistry, materials science, physics, device development, and relevant transversal skills.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MadridCoordinatorSpain
  • BSH ELECTRODOMESTICOS ESPANA SA · ZaragozaSpain
  • CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · RomaItaly
  • Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc. · WestervilleUnited States
  • PANEPISTIMIO KRITIS · RETHIMNOGreece
  • Quantum Design, Inc.United States
  • SUNAMP LIMITED · MacmerryUnited Kingdom
  • TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVEN · EindhovenNetherlands
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH · EdinburghUnited Kingdom
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA · SevillaSpain
  • UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA · ZaragozaSpain
  • UNIVERSITAET BIELEFELD · BielefeldGermany
  • UNIVERSITE PARIS-SACLAY · Gif-Sur-YvetteFrance

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union