Engineering Magneto-ionic Materials for Energy-Efficient Actuation and Sensing: From Interfaces to Multifunctional Voltage-Tunable Micromagnets

Introduction

ACTIONS proposes a material-based concept to drastically reduce the energy consumption of magnet-based micro- and nanotechnologies. Magnetic systems offer unique advantages for actuation in miniature fluidic and robotic systems, but their integration is hindered because electromagnets are required to create time-varying magnetic fields, causing joule energy loss and heat effects.

Alternative Solutions

Alternative control of magnetic materials using an electric field instead of electric current would present an energy-efficient solution. However, established magnetoelectric effects are small and restricted to low temperature or high voltage. Recently, we have demonstrated low-voltage control of magnetic films in liquid electrolytes by exploiting electrochemical reactions and ionic motion.

Project Goals

ACTIONS targets the engineering of these emerging magneto-ionic materials to use their immense unexplored potential for low power actuation. The innovative strategy of ACTIONS is to:

1. Transfer magneto-ionic effects of ferromagnetic metal thin films in liquid electrolytes to 3D nanomagnets and assemblies with defined anisotropy and at critical points.
2. Use a unique combination of in situ analytical and magnetic techniques to study the magneto-ionic control of magnetization.
3. Attain magneto-ionic micromagnets with voltage-reconfigurable stray fields, which can potentially replace microelectromagnets.

Cross-Linking Electrochemistry and Magnetism

Additionally, ACTIONS recognizes the inherent cross-link between electrochemistry and magnetism in magneto-ionic systems as a ground-breaking route to combine actuation and sensing in one material. Interfacial chemistry sensing will be based on the electrical response.

Final Objective

The final objective is to identify materials in which actuation and sensing can be programmed on demand by a voltage protocol. The concept in ACTIONS goes beyond conventional multifunctional composites and could establish a paradigm change in magnetic technologies and a novel class of energy-saving smart materials.