Laura H. Lewis

Perspectives on Permanent Magnetic Materials for Energy Conversion and Power Generation

Permanent magnet development has historically been driven by the need to supply larger magnetic energy in ever smaller volumes for incorporation in an enormous variety of applications that include consumer products, transportation components, military hardware, and clean energy technologies such as wind turbine generators and hybrid vehicle regenerative motors. Since the 1960s, the so-called rare-earth “supermagnets,” composed of iron, cobalt, and rare-earth elements such as Nd, Pr, and Sm, have accounted for the majority of global sales of high-energy–product permanent magnets for advanced applications. In rare-earth magnets, the transition-metal components provide high magnetization, and the rare-earth components contribute a very large magnetocrystalline anisotropy that donates high resistance to demagnetization. However, at the end of 2009, geopolitical influences created a worldwide strategic shortage of rare-earth elements that may be addressed, among other actions, through the development of rare-earth-free magnetic materials harnessing sources of magnetic anisotropy other than that provided by the rare-earth components. Materials engineering at the micron scale, nanoscale, and Angstrom scales, accompanied by improvements in the understanding and characterization of nanoscale magnetic phenomena, is anticipated to result in new types of permanent magnetic materials with superior performance.

Fundamentals and application of magnetic particles in cell isolation and enrichment: a review

Magnetic sorting using magnetic beads has become a routine methodology for the separation of key cell populations from biological suspensions. Due to the inherent ability of magnets to provide forces at a distance, magnetic cell manipulation is now a standardized process step in numerous processes in tissue engineering, medicine, and in fundamental biological research. Herein we review the current status of magnetic particles to enable isolation and separation of cells, with a strong focus on the fundamental governing physical phenomena, properties and syntheses of magnetic particles and on current applications of magnet-based cell separation in laboratory and clinical settings. We highlight the contribution of cell separation to biomedical research and medicine and detail modern cell-separation methods (both magnetic and non-magnetic). In addition to a review of the current state-of-the-art in magnet-based cell sorting, we discuss current challenges and available opportunities for further research, development and commercialization of magnetic particle-based cell-separation systems.

High coercivity cobalt carbide nanoparticles processed via polyol reaction: a new permanent magnet material

Cobalt carbide nanoparticles were processed using polyol reduction chemistry that offers high product yields in a cost effective single-step process. Particles are shown to be acicular in morphology and typically assembled as clusters with room temperature coercivities greater than 3.4 kOe and maximum energy products greater than 20 kJ m−3. Consisting of Co3C and Co2C phases, the ratio of phase volume, particle size and particle morphology all play important roles in determining permanent magnet properties. Further, the acicular particle shape provides an enhancement to the coercivity via dipolar anisotropy energy as well as offering potential for particle alignment in nanocomposite cores. While Curie temperatures are near 510 K at temperatures approaching 700 K the carbide powders experience an irreversible dissociation to metallic cobalt and carbon thus limiting operational temperatures to near room temperature. These findings warrant more extensive investigation of this and other magnetic carbide systems in which particle size, chemistry and morphology are optimized.

Clinically relevant microfluidic magnetophoretic isolation of rare-cell populations for diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring applications.

Cells of biomedical interest are, despite their functional significance, often present in very small numbers. Therefore the analysis and isolation of previously inaccessible rare cells, such as peripheral hematopoietic stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells, or circulating tumor cells, require efficient, sensitive, and specific procedures that do not compromise the viability of the cells. The current study builds on previous work on a rationally designed microfluidic magnetophoretic cell separation platform capable of throughputs of 240 μL min(-1). Proof-of-concept was first conducted using MCF-7 (1-1000 total cells) as the target rare cell spiked into high concentrations of Raji B-lymphocyte nontarget cells (~10(6) total cells). These experiments lead to the establishment of a magnet-based separation for the isolation of 50 MCF-7 cells directly from whole blood. Results show an efficiency of collection greater than 85%, with a purity of over 90%. Next, resident endothelial progenitor cells and hematopoietic stem cells are directly isolated from whole human blood in a rapid and efficient fashion (>96%). Both cell populations could be simultaneously isolated and, via immunofluorescent staining, individually identified and enumerated. Overall, the presented device illustrates a viable separation platform for high purity, efficient, and rapid collection of rare cell populations directly from whole blood samples.

Direct chemical synthesis of high coercivity air-stable SmCo nanoblades

Ferromagnetic air-stable SmCo nanoparticles have been produced directly using a one-step chemical synthesis method. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the formation of hexagonal SmCo5 as a dominant phase. High resolution transmission electron microscopy confirms the presence of uniform, anisotropic bladelike nanoparticles approximately 10nm in width and 100nm in length. Values of the intrinsic coercivity and the magnetization in the as-synthesized particles are 6.1kOe and 40emu∕g at room temperature and 8.5kOe and 44emu∕g at 10K, respectively. This direct synthesis process is environmentally friendly and is readily scalable to large volume synthesis to meet the needs for the myriad of advanced permanent magnet applications.

Inspired by nature: investigating tetrataenite for permanent magnet applications

Chemically ordered L10-type FeNi, also known as tetrataenite, is under investigation as a rare-earth-free advanced permanent magnet. Correlations between crystal structure, microstructure and magnetic properties of naturally occurring tetrataenite with a slightly Fe-rich composition (~ Fe55Ni44) obtained from the meteorite NWA 6259 are reported and augmented with computationally derived results. The tetrataenite microstructure exhibits three mutually orthogonal crystallographic variants of the L10 structure that reduce its remanence; nonetheless, even in its highly unoptimized state tetrataenite provides a room-temperature coercivity of 95.5 kA m(-1) (1200 Oe), a Curie temperature of at least 830 K and a largely temperature-independent anisotropy that preliminarily point to a theoretical magnetic energy product exceeding (BH)max = 335 kJ m(-3) (42 MG Oe) and approaching those found in todays best rare-earth-based magnets.

Computational design optimization for microfluidic magnetophoresis

Current macro- and microfluidic approaches for the isolation of mammalian cells are limited in both efficiency and purity. In order to design a robust platform for the enumeration of a target cell population, high collection efficiencies are required. Additionally, the ability to isolate pure populations with minimal biological perturbation and efficient off-chip recovery will enable subcellular analyses of these cells for applications in personalized medicine. Here, a rational design approach for a simple and efficient device that isolates target cell populations via magnetic tagging is presented. In this work, two magnetophoretic microfluidic device designs are described, with optimized dimensions and operating conditions determined from a force balance equation that considers two dominant and opposing driving forces exerted on a magnetic-particle-tagged cell, namely, magnetic and viscous drag. Quantitative design criteria for an electromagnetic field displacement-based approach are presented, wherein target cells labeled with commercial magnetic microparticles flowing in a central sample stream are shifted laterally into a collection stream. Furthermore, the final device design is constrained to fit on standard rectangular glass coverslip (60 (L)×24 (W)×0.15 (H) mm(3)) to accommodate small sample volume and point-of-care design considerations. The anticipated performance of the device is examined via a parametric analysis of several key variables within the model. It is observed that minimal currents (<500 mA) are required to generate magnetic fields sufficient to separate cells from the sample streams flowing at rate as high as 7 ml∕h, comparable to the performance of current state-of-the-art magnet-activated cell sorting systems currently used in clinical settings. Experimental validation of the presented model illustrates that a device designed according to the derived rational optimization can effectively isolate (∼100%) a magnetic-particle-tagged cell population from a homogeneous suspension even in a low abundance. Overall, this design analysis provides a rational basis to select the operating conditions, including chamber and wire geometry, flow rates, and applied currents, for a magnetic-microfluidic cell separation device.

Universal properties of linear magnetoresistance in strongly disordered MnAs-GaAs composite semiconductors

Linear magnetoresistance occurs in semiconductors as a consequence of strong electrical disorder and is characterized by nonsaturating magnetoresistance that is proportional to the applied magnetic field. By investigating a disordered MnAs-GaAs composite material, it is found that the magnitude of the linear magnetoresistance (LMR) is numerically equal to the carrier mobility over a wide range and is independent of carrier density. This behavior is complementary to the Hall effect that is independent of the mobility and dependent on the carrier density. Moreover, the LMR appears to be insensitive to the details of the disorder and points to a universal explanation of classical LMR that can be applied to other material systems.

Functionalization-induced improvement in magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Fe3O4 were synthesized nanoparticles by thermal decomposition method with oleic acid as the surfactant, and to make them suitable for aqueous environments, dopamine ligand exchange was carried out on the particles. The nanoparticle size and phase was quantified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry confirmed superparamagnetic behavior in both nanoparticles. A surprising and significant increase in the remanence MR, saturation magnetization MS, and blocking temperature TB of the particles was found after dopamine functionalization, even though TEM and XRD studies revealed no change in the particles’ size and/or structure. The results are consistent with an increase in the magnetic size of the nanoparticle core induced by the dopamine ligand exchange process. These effects are tentatively attributed to surface bonding effects that alter the canted magnetic state of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Hall-effect characterization of the metamagnetic transition in FeRh

The antiferromagnetic ground state and the metamagnetic transition to the ferromagnetic state of CsCl-ordered FeRh epilayers have been characterized using Hall and magnetoresistance measurements. On cooling into the ground state, the metamagnetic transition is found to coincide with a suppression in carrier density of at least an order of magnitude below the typical metallic level that is shown by the ferromagnetic state. The carrier density in the antiferromagnetic state is limited by intrinsic doping from Fe/Rh substitution defects, with approximately two electrons per pair of atoms swapped, showing that the decrease in carrier density could be even larger in more perfect specimens. The surprisingly large change in carrier density is a clear quantitative indication of the extent of change at the Fermi surface at the metamagnetic transition, confirming that entropy release at the transition is of electronic origin, and hence that an electronic transition underlies the metamagnetic transition. Regarding the nature of this electronic transition, it is suggested that an orbital selective Mott transition, selective to strongly-correlated Fe 3d electrons, could cause the reduction in the Fermi surface and change in sign of the magnetic exchange from FM to AF on cooling.