BIOLOGY | U. Scientist Reports Improved Polymer Magnets By Pam Fogle, University News Service Scientists at the University of Utah report significant advances in the development of new polymer magnets made at room temperature that are easier to make, that retain their magnetic properties at high temperature and that are stable in air. "The combination of air stability and high use temperature suggests a variety of applications, including magnetic shielding and memory storage devices," says Joel S. Miller, professor of chemistry. Miller is a leading, international authority on "polymeric" magnets made of materials other than iron or metals. A report on his most recent findings appeared in the August 13 issue of Advanced Materials. The new polymer magnets are made of vanadium, chromium non-magnetic metals and cyanide. Unlike MillerŐs previous attempts using materials that broke down when exposed to air or moisture, the new mag-nets are stable at room temperature. Naturally occurring magnets, or magnetite, have been studied for about 4,500 years. By 1,600 A.D., people began making them out of an iron metal. "For a very long time, no one seriously considered making magnets out of anything else," says Miller. For this new polymer magnet, Miller uses organic chemistry-based methods similar to those used to design drugs in the pharmaceutical industry, rather than the more traditional "heat and beat" manufacturing of metals using ultra-high temperatures and metallurgical processes. Miller, who first demonstrated in 1985 that magnets could be made from organic materials at very low "critical temperatures," describes that initial effort as interesting but "not very practical." The first magnet was made at a temperature of -450 degrees Fahrenheit. The newest magnets are made at 210 degrees F, "essentially the temperature at which water boils in Utah," he notes. Magnets are essential to our high technology society, Miller points out. TheyŐre crucial in every electronic device, such as computers, loud speakers, motors, televisions, watches, telephones, switches, radios and microphones, to name a few. Every automobile has more than 20 magnets supporting or augmenting its operation. "If you think about it, we could not survive daily life without magnets," he says. Collaborating with Miller on the research are U. of U. second-year graduate student Oyvind Hatlevik and post-doctoral associates Wayne E. Buschmann, Jie Zhang and Jamie L. Manson. MillerŐs research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and by the American Chemical Society. |