Clean and efficient cooling in vaccine transportation using Rotating Magnetocaloric Effect

Project Information

MAGCCINE

Grant agreement ID: 101161135

DOI

10.3030/101161135

EC signature date 13 June 2024

Start date 1 October 2024

End date 30 September 2028

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 3 635 772,50

EU contribution

€ 3 635 772,50

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MAGCCINE (Clean and efficient cooling in vaccine transportation using Rotating Magnetocaloric Effect)

Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Reliable refrigeration is essential for global vaccination campaigns, yet today’s vaccine cold chain depends almost entirely on vapour-compression systems that consume large amounts of electricity and use refrigerants with high environmental impact and/or public health hazardous. These limitations are particularly severe in remote or resource-constrained regions, where unstable energy supply and maintenance needs undermine vaccine safety and accessibility. At the same time, the European Union is prioritising clean, efficient, and climate-neutral cooling solutions aligned with the Green Deal, F-gas phase-down, and global decarbonisation objectives.
MAGCCINE aims to revolutionise vaccine refrigeration by developing the first solid-state cooling device based on the Rotating Magnetocaloric Effect (RMCE). Instead of using greenhouse-gas refrigerants or mechanical compressors, RMCE uses specially designed magnetic materials that heat or cool when rotated in a magnetic field. This approach has the potential to deliver high efficiency, zero direct emissions, silent operation, and long-term reliability.
The project brings together European experts in materials science, magnet design, device engineering, and modelling. Its main objectives are:
• To design and produce advanced magnetocaloric materials with strong anisotropy suited for low-field rotation.
• To establish high-throughput screening tools and modelling frameworks that guide material optimisation.
• To design efficient magnetic assemblies and regenerative architectures tailored for 2–8 °C vaccine storage.
• To build and validate an experimental RMCE prototype demonstrating clean and energy-efficient solid-state cooling.
By enabling a new class of refrigeration technology, MAGCCINE aims to reduce environmental impact, improve access to safe vaccines, and support the development of sustainable cooling solutions that respond to EU priorities on health, climate, and energy efficiency.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During RP1, MAGCCINE made substantial progress across materials development, characterisation, modelling, and device design.
Researchers produced multiple families of magnetocaloric materials with controlled anisotropy using advanced synthesis routes such as arc-melting, wet etching and field-assisted curing. These materials were analysed using structural, magnetic, and thermal techniques to understand their behaviour under rotating magnetic fields. High-throughput characterisation tools were improved to accelerate screening of compositions and microstructures.
The project developed state-of-the-art numerical tools, including new modules of the FEMCE modelling framework, to simulate magnetocaloric behaviour, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics in three-dimensional RMCE components. These models guide the optimisation of both materials and device geometry.
Progress was made in the design of compact magnetic assemblies, including optimised permanent-magnet configurations and magnetic flux-guide structures capable of producing high field contrast with reduced magnet mass.
These achievements create the necessary foundation for building and testing the first integrated RMCE prototype in the next phase of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

MAGCCINE has already generated several advances that push beyond the current scientific and technological state of the art. The project demonstrated new magnetocaloric materials and composites engineered for strong orientation-dependent behaviour, enabling efficient cooling using significantly lower magnetic fields than traditional magnetocaloric systems. It also developed improved methods for simultaneously measuring magnetic, structural, and thermal responses under dynamic field conditions, helping to understand transition kinetics—one of the key challenges in solid-state cooling.
The modelling innovations of MAGCCINE, including multi-physics 3D simulations, provide the most detailed framework to date for analysing RMCE performance and guiding prototype design. Optimised magnetic architectures and flux-guide concepts offer new pathways to increase field contrast without increasing magnet mass, improving efficiency and reducing cost.
These results position RMCE as a promising alternative for future climate-neutral cooling devices. To reach full technological deployment, additional steps will be needed, including demonstration of complete prototypes, reliability testing, material scale-up, standardised measurement protocols, and evaluation of manufacturing and economic feasibility. Engagement with potential end-users—such as health organisations and vaccine-distribution networks—will also be important for future uptake.

Logo (up) of Magccine consortium and a schematic illustration (down) of the next-generation magnetic