Amorphous alloy-based heater combining high electrothermal and mechanical performance

Abstract

Electrothermal devices have been widely used for many years. However, their applications still mainly rely on wires made of heavy metal alloys which suffer from many disadvantages. Meanwhile, the recently discovered electrothermal materials based on carbon nanostructures are restricted by the expensive large-scale production. Here, we fabricate Fe57.2Ni18B13Si8.5P0.8Cr2.4Cu0.1 amorphous ribbons with good electrothermal and mechanical properties, which can offer overall advantages over prevailing electrothermal materials. The ribbons combine high resistivity of ∼160 μΩ·cm, high strength over 2 GPa and good thermal stability (Tg=730 K). The ribbons can uniformly reach steady-state temperature up to 160°C within 100 seconds at a driving voltage of 10 V, and the produced infrared radiations are friendly to human bodies. Furthermore, the ribbons exhibit excellent flexibility and mechanical stability, where their electrothermal performance can maintain during bending, twisting and even after hundreds of cycles of deformations. Besides these advantages, amorphous ribbon can be industrially produced at a lower cost, making it possible to be used in broaden fields.