Belarusian-Chinese team of scientists has created magnetosoft materials with the best efficiency in the world

A Belarusian-Chinese team of scientists has created magnetosoft materials with the best efficiency in the world in certain modes of operation. About this and how teamwork helps Belarusian scientists to create innovative materials for the Earth and space, the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti” told the owner of the honorary title “Minsk of the year — 2026”, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Associate Professor Alexander Zheludkevich.

For Earth and space

At the SPC of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Materials Science, A. Zheludkevich heads two divisions - the laboratory of magnetic materials physics and the department of electrical and radiation materials science. He leads teams that create innovative materials for space and domestic instrumentation. Recently, with his participation, a high-tech research and production line was launched.

- We have long and closely cooperated with the capital enterprises “INTEGRAL” and “Peleng”, – said the interlocutor. At first, we provide a part of their technological chain in the production of semiconductors. We perform radiation treatment of silicon plates, which are the basis for the manufacture of transistors and chips. We cooperate with Peleng mainly in the space direction. For example, they make a satellite there, and you need to see how a particular material behaves in conditions of ionizing radiation. In our laboratories, we create conditions as close as possible to those of space, and we test chips. So you can determine whether it will withstand flight loads in a certain orbit. These are unique products of knowledge-intensive production, very important for ensuring work in space. Our developments are included in the allied program "Complex-SG" to create groups of small-sized satellites for remote sensing of our planet and monitoring near-Earth space.

Magic interest

Another important direction in the activities of A. Zheludkevich is magnetic materials. So-called magnetohard materials (permanent magnets) are produced using rare earth metals - neodymium, samarium, lanthanum, etc.

- Adding a small amount of neodymium to an alloy of iron and boron creates an internal stress in its crystal lattice, resulting in a powerful magnetic effect, the physicist explained. The strongest magnets on Earth are based on rare earths. Our lab specializes in creating materials with these chemical elements. They are widely used as engine components, including drones, in medical equipment and other applications. We also make magnetosoft materials that can be instantly magnetized and magnetized. They are necessary for the operation of transformers, energy converters, starters and rotors in engines. We recently completed such a project with our Chinese colleagues from the Institute of New Materials of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences.

According to the interlocutor, the task of the joint project was to improve materials for high-frequency transformer cores. The Belarusian-Chinese team managed to create magnetosoft materials with the world’s best efficiency coefficients in certain modes of operation. They can be used in power supplies for phones, computers, car chargers. This development ten times reduces the weight and dimensions of transformers. The new materials, coupled with specific electronics, allow more energy to pass through a smaller charging station and move from the kilohertz to megahertz range. For comparison: the frequency of current in a conventional outlet is only 50 Hz.

And in order to protect the health of people and other equipment from radiation and electromagnetic radiation, A. Zhelunovych and colleagues are developing their shielding.

You can be wrong, you can't lie

When talking, the phone screen of the interlocutor periodically lit up. There were more and more messages on it.

- I am in contact with the staff 24/7, he explained. There is nothing urgent today, otherwise they would have come to my office. We have a young team in our lab. If the guys are conducting an experiment and got an interesting result or there was a difficulty, speed is very important. Employees at any time can write to me, call and consult. But I have a rule: you can make mistakes, you can’t lie.

Where did A. Zheludkevich get such an understanding of the value of teamwork? Perhaps from his father, who served as a firefighter in Glubokoy, where the interlocutor grew up. But there is another reason. In the past, the scientific result was clear and predictable. The scientist could plan the work for almost ten years ahead. Now materials science is developing rapidly, and even a good article is difficult to create alone. Under the sanctions, Belarusian researchers need to team up with colleagues from Russia and China to produce serious publications together.

- Personal contacts are very important in this regard. If a foreign delegation comes to us, I will take them on my weekend on an excursion to the ethnocenter or the castle. But later I can call, for example, a familiar Chinese professor and ask to urgently make the necessary measurements. Officially, this issue may not be resolved. Informal attention to people, colleagues is an effective approach, the physicist sums up.

For reference

A. Zheludkevich received higher education at BSUIR at the Department of Micro- and Nanoelectronics. Since 2010 he has been working at the NASB SPC for Materials Science. From intern to head of the laboratory.

Photo by Diana Shabala