Institute of Experimental Physics
Topic
Magnetic fluids for energy harvesting
PhD. program
Physical engineering of advanced materials
Name of the supervisor
RNDr. Michal Rajňák, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University in Košice
Annotation
The topic of the dissertation is related to the current need to find new materials and principles for alternative and renewable sources of electrical energy. The subject of this project is the experimental research of magnetic fluids as effective media for the conversion of mechanical vibrations and waste heat into electrical energy. The first goal of this project is to prepare low-viscosity magnetic fluids with high values of initial magnetic susceptibility and saturation magnetization. These liquids will be prepared based on hydrocarbon oils and water. The dispersed phase will consist of magnetic nanoparticles of various shapes (especially Fe and Co oxides). The second goal is to implement these magnetic fluids in magnetic circuits to harvest energy from mechanical vibrations and analyze the generated electromotive force. The analysis of the recovered energy will be based on the experimental study of hydrodynamics and magnetic interactions of magnetic fluids in energy recovery systems. The third goal of the project is to prepare magnetic fluids enabling magnetic field-controlled thermoelectric conversion. These liquids will be prepared as colloidal suspensions of surface-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles in various ionic liquids in order to obtain the greatest possible thermoelectric efficiency. This will be evaluated based on the measurement of thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient in a wide range of temperature and magnetic field intensity.