Nanomaterials for next generation of electric motors 

In today’s highly competitive global market, the demands for higher power density, compact motors, lower costs, and increased reliability are fueling the need for introducing a breakthrough approach to the use of new materials and advanced technologies to enable the development of a new generation of electric motors. Recent technological advancements in nanomaterials have opened up new horizons for the macroscopic applications. Carbon nanotube (CNT) wires and superparamagnetic nanoparticles embedded in a polymer matrix are new materials that can be used to replace copper and iron core, respectively, on conventional motors and to design lightweight high-performance electric motors that are an example of a new generation of energy conversion devices. Moreover, novel hard magnetic nanoparticles based on non-critical, easily accessible, stable and easily recyclable elements can be used as building blocks for the fabrication of sintered and bonded permanent magnets, which can replace currently used permanent magnets in electric motors containing high- cost and critical rare-earth elemenTT.