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Strong and ductile high temperature soft magnets through Widmanstätten precipitates
Fast growth of sustainable energy production requires massive electrification of transport, industry and households, with electrical motors as key components. These need soft magnets with high saturation magnetization, mechanical strength, and thermal stability to operate efficiently and safely. Reconciling these properties in one material is challenging because thermally-stable microstructures for strength increase conflict with magnetic performance. Here, we present a material concept that combines thermal stability, soft magnetic response, and high mechanical strength. The strong and ductile soft ferromagnet is realized as a multicomponent alloy in which precipitates with a large aspect ratio form a Widmanstätten pattern. The material shows excellent magnetic and mechanical properties at high temperatures while the reference alloy with identical composition devoid of precipitates significantly loses its magnetization and strength at identical temperatures. The work provides a new avenue to develop soft magnets for high-temperature applications, enabling efficient use of sustainable electrical energy under harsh operating conditions.
The CO2 reduction potential for the European industry via direct electrification of heat supply (power-to-heat)
The decarbonisation of industry is a bottleneck for the EU's 2050 target of climate neutrality. Replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon electricity is at the core of this challenge; however, the aggregate electrification potential and resulting system-wide CO2 reductions for diverse industrial processes are unknown. Here, we present the results from a comprehensive bottom-up analysis of the energy use in 11 industrial sectors (accounting for 92% of Europe's industry CO2 emissions), and estimate the technological potential for industry electrification in three stages. Seventy-eight per cent of the energy demand is electrifiable with technologies that are already established, while 99% electrification can be achieved with the addition of technologies currently under development. Such a deep electrification reduces CO2 emissions already based on the carbon intensity of today's electricity (∼300 gCO2 kWhel−1). With an increasing decarbonisation of the power sector IEA: 12 gCO2 kWhel−1 in 2050), electrification could cut CO2 emissions by 78%, and almost entirely abate the energy-related CO2 emissions, reducing the industry bottleneck to only residual process emissions. Despite its decarbonisation potential, the extent to which direct electrification will be deployed in industry remains uncertain and depends on the relative cost of electric technologies compared to other low-carbon options.