Active transient cooling by magnetocaloric materials

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) has been intensively studied for novel energy efficient thermal management systems. The present study demonstrates a proof-of-concept magnetic cooling setup for active cooling of the thermal spikes of a heated resistor. Using Gd as the MCE material, the device was capable of actively cooling thermal spikes within one cycle since the dynamics of magnetic phase transition in Gd (a second-order magnetic phase transition material) are favorable to effect a fast MCE response. Enhanced cooling rate of the heated resistor of up to ∼85% for active cooling by MCE compared to passive cooling was achieved. The cooling curve of the resistor was found to follow an exponential decrease. Our results show that magnetic cooling systems can be an efficient solution to cool thermal spikes in active transient cooling systems.

► A setup for transient cooling using magnetocaloric effect (MCE) was developed.
► Thermal spikes of a resistor were actively cooled by exploiting the MCE of Gd.
► Cooling rate was enhanced ∼85% for cooling by MCE compared to passive cooling.
► Our results establish that MCE cooling can efficiently cool thermal spikes.