High-Density Magnets Created

Judebert writes: "University of California, Riverside scientists have created diradical magnets: magnetic particles that have two unbonded electrons instead of just one. The problem with diradical substances is that they have always been extremely chemically active, so they never stayed around longer than a few microseconds at room temperature. The new substance is stable at room temperature, even when it's in solution. And it's not even metallic. This paves the way for newer, higher-density magnetic and magneto-optical media and devices. You can help distribute the load if you visit the text mirror instead."

Comments

Re:car parts

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see. All the analog displays in your dash have magnets. Tach, speedo, ..anything with a needle. Alternator, starter, various motors, speakers. Also magnets that measure the rpm of various mechanical bits via magnets and sensor that rely on the Hall effect.

And those are all permanent magnets. If you gifure in electromagnets, there's probably one in any circuit of any size in the form of relays, chokes, coils, solenoids, sensors. I think 300 is a reasonable number.

Re:car parts

[teridon]

In some cars, the oil/tranmission drain plug is magnetic. Some transmissions have a magnet in the fluid pan to catch metal filings. Most cars have radios, and thus speakers with magnets.

Re:car parts

[3waygeek]

Here's a few -- alternator, solenoids on power door locks, motors on power windows, fan motors.

Loudness

[Deanasc]

So can I get even louder headphones for my Mp3 player? Imagine how much quicker I can loose my hearing listening to my pirated CD's.

Re:And the practical advantage is...

[Polo]

stronger magnets = higher storage density on magnetic devices.

also, stuff won't fall off the fridge when you slam it shut.

This just in!

[Veramocor]

RIAA/MPAA just announced the second free electron will be used for DRM.

Veramocor

Better Magnets == Better Cars

[yancey]

As we move toward using more fuel cells and electric motors, this may be one of the more important scientific discoveries of the decade.

Re:Better Magnets == Better Cars

[rufusdufus]

Why? Please explain Yancey!

Re:Better Magnets == Better Cars

[TwP]

The force (or power) an electric motor can generate is directly proportional to the current going through the motor and the strength of the magnetic field. If the magnetic field is stronger, you can have a motor of the same size but with more power. Or you could have a motor of the same size and power, but it would consume less current. This would give you a longer battery life.

For cars, you could now have more powerful electric motors that consume the same amount of power as current electric motors. Or you could have electric motors with the same power output of todays models but with a lower power consumption.

Stronger magnets make for more effecient electric motors. You can use that efficiency for greater power or greater battery life.

Stronger magnets are always better

[mbessey]

For any application that uses magnets, higher magnetic strength is always an asset. Whether it allows you to reduce the weight of an assembly, or increase the amount of force for a given volume/weight, it's a good thing. Stronger magnets also allow you to store more data in a smaller area in a magnetic storage device, as someone else already mentioned.

Also, these "diradical" magnets are a fundamentally different kind of material than other magnets, which means that they may have other properties that allow the use of magnets where they couldn't be used before.

-Mark

Re:Ummm no

[Veramocor]

Oxygen has 6 valence electrons. lets draw one of those nifty electron valence shell models. Each dot is an electron.

.
:O.
..

Oxygen "wants" a complete electron shell so it forms a double bond with another oxygen, each sharing its 2 unpaired electrons.

O=O

no radicals there.

Veramocor

Re:Ummm...

[ndevice]

i'm not a chemist, but:

reading from the article, they seem to say that diradicals like O2 are already bonded and not very magnetic. I remember the LOx and magnet demonstration in chemistry class, and it wasn't that impressive. What these guys have done is find a molecule/compound that doesn't bond (and doesn't lose the magnetic effects of being a diradical)

anyway, quoting from the article:

Several research groups worldwide have shown that materials based on "diradicals" will be even more magnetically active. In a diradical, two atoms, which are close to each other, have electrons ready to form a bond. And indeed, the difficulty is that usually the bond is formed, resulting in no magnetism.

would it bother to mention this is a joint team ?

[dario_moreno]

The leader of the group is french, and still
manages his lab in Toulouse. The project
is half french, half american, and students
travel continuously in between the two labs.

Look at the chemical diagram

[maddogsparky]

It was a balanced molecule where two Boron atoms seemed to have their vallence atoms "shielded" from contact with other molecules. Considering that the flat layout is actually a representation of a 3D structure, I could see how the "leafs" could curl up so that nothing else could get to the Boron.

Re:Better Magnets == Better Cars, is that true?

[PeterM from Berkeley]

I was under the impression that electric motors
were already quite efficient.

I looked at some numbers, and even without these
new magnets, electric motors are often 90%
efficient or better.

I tend to think that the primary gain of a better
magnet is, if anything, the ability to make
the motors smaller.

I think the main waste of power in an electric
motor has nothing to do with the strength
of the magnet, but rather resistive losses
in the coils.

Re:And the practical advantage is...

[adminispheroid]

Frinstance, those small lightweight headphones that you use with your walkman were a miraculous innovation about 20 years ago, and what made them possible was advances in magnet technology. Before that, headphones of that quality weighed a couple pounds.

Right now, electric motors for e.g. hybrid vehicles could really use better magnets. Pull out your McMaster-Carr and see what a 200 horse high starting torque DC motor weighs, and how big it is. It's impressive.

Next step

[sean23007]

Now we all just have to wait until someone invents the one-direction magnet. It has to exist (according to Einstein), but no one has been able to even conceive of a way to do it yet. Perhaps this stable singlet diradical substance is just a step or two below uni-directional magnetism.

Continue magnet research!

Re:Better Magnets == Better Cars, is that true?

[sean23007]

It is true that electric motors are very efficient, but this ultra-strong magnet technology does not profess to increase the efficiency, but the power output. If you have a motor with 90% efficiency, you need to find a way to raise the gross output, not the efficiency. In internal combustion engines, which are anywhere between 10% and 25% efficient, raised efficiency is a huge bonus, but not in electric motors.

Stronger magnets will yield stronger electric motors, which may be able to finally bring them into the popular consumer automobile market. The powerful electric motor is the key to electric cars, because battery technology appears to have run its course (seen in a recent /. article).

Re:car parts

[llamalicious]

think:

- alternator (create electricity through magnetic induction of currents)
- relays
- stereo speakers
- rotor in the distributor cap
- engine fan (for electric, non-belt driven types)
- solenoids in any electric trunk/hood releases and power locks
- electric motors in power windows/mirrors

that's just off the top of my head... there really are a lot of magnetic parts in a car. Most are electric magnets, true, but magnetic nonetheless.