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Magnetic data storage and magnetically actuated devices are conventionally controlled by magnetic fields generated using electric currents. This involves significant power dissipation by Joule heating effect. To optimize energy efficiency, manipulation of magnetic information with lower magnetic fields (i.e., lower electric currents) is desirable. This can be accomplished by reducing the coercivity of the actuated material. Here, a drastic reduction of coercivity is observed at room temperature in thick (≈600 nm), nanoporous, electrodeposited Cu-Ni films by simply subjecting them to the action of an electric field. The effect is due to voltage-induced changes in the magnetic anisotropy. The large surface-area-to-volume ratio and the ultranarrow pore walls of the system allow the whole film, and not only the topmost surface, to effectively contribute to the observed magnetoelectric effect. This waives the stringent "ultrathin-film requirement" from previous studies, where small voltage-driven coercivity variations were reported. This observation expands the already wide range of applications of nanoporous materials (hitherto in areas like energy storage or catalysis) and it opens new paradigms in the fields of spintronics, computation, and magnetic actuation in general.is conventionally done by localized magnetic fields (generated via electromagnetic induction) or by spin-polarized electric currents (spin-transfer torque). [2,4] Both principles require of relatively high electric currents and therefore involve significant loss of energy in the form of heat dissipation (Joule effect). For example, the currents needed to operate conventional magnetic random-access memories (MRAMs) are of the order of 10 mA, whereas spin-transfer torque MRAMs require currents of at least 0.5 mA. This is still a factor five times larger than the output currents delivered by highly miniaturized metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. [5] Replacement of electric currents by electric fields would drastically contribute to reduce the overall power consumption in these and other devices.Several approaches to tailor magnetism by means of an electric field have been proposed so far: (i) strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling in piezoelectric-magnetostrictive composite materials, [6,7] (ii) multiferroic materials in which the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order parameters are coupled to each other, [8] and (iii) electric-field induced oxidation-reduction transitions (magnetoionics). [9,10] However, each of these approaches faces some drawbacks, e.g., (i) clamping effects with the substrate, need of epitaxial interfaces, and risk of fatigue-induced mechanical failure; (ii) the dearth of available multiferroic materials and the reduced strength of magnetoelectric coupling, even at low temperatures; and (iii) precise control of the chemical

A synergetic approach to enhance magnetoelectric effects (i.e., control of magnetism with voltage) and improve energy efficiency in magnetically actuated devices is presented. The investigated material consists of an ordered array of Co−Pt microdisks, in which nanoporosity and partial oxidation are introduced during the synthetic procedure to synergetically boost the effects of electric field. The microdisks are grown by electrodeposition from an electrolyte containing an amphiphilic polymeric surfactant. The bath formulation is designed to favor the incorporation of oxygen in the form of cobalt oxide. A pronounced reduction of coercivity (88%) and a remarkable increase of Kerr signal amplitude (60%) are observed at room temperature upon subjecting the microdisks to negative voltages through an electrical double layer. These large voltage-induced changes in the magnetic properties of the microdisks are due to (i) the high surface-area-to-volume ratio with ultranarrow pore walls (sub-10 nm) that promote enhanced electric charge accumulation and (ii) magneto-ionic effects, where voltage-driven O 2− migration promotes a partial reduction of CoO to Co at room temperature. This simple and versatile procedure to fabricate patterned "nano-in-micro" magnetic motifs with adjustable voltage-driven magnetic properties is very appealing for energy-efficient magnetic recording systems and other magnetoelectronic devices.

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Solutions of about 0.25 mM of the β-blocker metoprolol tartrate (100 mg L(-1) total organic carbon) with 0.5 mM Fe(2+) in the presence and absence of 0.1 mM Cu(2+) of pH 3.0 have been comparatively degraded under electro-Fenton (EF) and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) conditions. The electrolyses were carried out with two systems: (i) a single cell with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and an air-diffusion cathode (ADE) for H(2)O(2) electrogeneration and (ii) a combined cell with a BDD/ADE pair coupled with a Pt/carbon felt (CF) cell. Overall mineralization was reached in all PEF treatments using both systems due to the efficient production of hydroxyl radical ((•)OH) from Fenton's reaction induced by UVA light and the quick photolysis of Fe(III) carboxylate complexes formed. In EF, the combined cell was much more potent than the single one by the larger (•)OH generation from the continuous Fe(2+) regeneration at the CF cathode, accelerating the oxidation of organics. However, almost total mineralization in EF was feasible using the combined cell in the presence of 0.1 mM Cu(2+), because of the parallel quick oxidation of Cu(II) carboxylate complexes by (•)OH. Metoprolol decay always followed a pseudo-first-order reaction. Aromatic products related to consecutive hydroxylation/oxidation reactions of metoprolol were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The evolution of the aromatic 4-(2-methoxyethyl)phenol and generated carboxylic acids was followed by HPLC. The degradation rate and mineralization degree of metoprolol tartrate were limited by the removal of Fe(III) and Cu(II) complexes of ultimate carboxylic acids such as formic, oxalic, and oxamic. NH(4)(+) ion and to a lesser extent NO(3)(-) ion were released in all treatments, being quantified by ionic chromatography.