Perhaps the refrigerators of the future will be based on magnetic compounds?
Conventional refrigeration
The first refrigeration machines were developed because of the need to preserve foodstuffs. Previously, snow or ice was collected in winter and stored during the summer in adobe dwellings or in cavities dug out of cool, shaded areas.
It was not until 1913 that the first domestic refrigerator appeared, which was operated by hand, and not until 1918 that the first refrigerator with an electric motor appeared.
The refrigerator
The first apparatus capable of producing ice was built by the Scottish physician and chemist William Cullen in 1748. He used ethyl ether as a refrigerant, which was highly explosive and caused many accidents. Subsequently, other compounds such as propane, butane or ammonia were used until 1931, when DuPont introduced CFCs, also known as freons, which were non-flammable and initially assumed to be harmless. CFCs were later found to be the cause of the ozone hole and were banned in 1995.
Two refrigerants are currently used:
- R134a, a hydrofluorocarbon, HFC, which does little harm to the ozone layer, but is an air pollutant that acts as an agent of climate change. Its production is to be phased out by 2026.
- R600a, isobutane, which is flammable, but can be used in small quantities so that the danger is minimised and there is no toxic waste.

