Recent R&D Trend in Magnetic Refrigeration at Room Temperature

실온 자기냉동의 최근 연구개발 동향

The 1st International Conference on Magnetic Refrigeration at Room Temperature was held at Montreux, Switzerland during September 27-30, 2005. The conference was the first of its kind to bring together about 140 scientists and engineers interested in magnetic refrigeration in one place. The magnetocaloric effect was discovered in 1881, however, magnetic refrigeration at room temperature was demonstrated to be viable in 1997 Since then, R&D efforts toward magnetic refrigeration have been on the rise around the world, in both areas of systems and materials. The conference reflected the recent R&D trend in magnetic refrigeration at room temperature, which includes the use of permanent magnet instead of superconductor magnet, switch from reciprocating to rotary magnetic refrigeration system, development of magnetic materials based on transition metal elements besides rare earth materials such as gadolinium(Gd).