J. Cui
Ames Laboratory,
United States
Keywords: magnet, rare earth, substitute
Summary:
The U.S. Department of Energy-funded Critical Materials Institute has, since 2013, been developing alternative magnet technologies to substitute or augment existing magnets. These technologies include the Nd2Fe14B, SmCo and ferrite magnets, along with the associated processing. Our technologies under development range from alternative compositions to innovative processing techniques; the Institute also performs detailed techno-economic analyses of the potential U.S. and international benefits of adoption of these technologies. Technologies under current development include a competitor to Nd2Fe14B with significantly less critical material content, and competitors to SmCo magnets at both reduced Samarium and Cobalt content [1]. We have also developed means of strengthening the mechanical properties of these materials, recently resulting in an R&D 100 award [2]. We are also working towards magnet technologies based on Sm2Fe17N3 [3], which is well-known as a material presently not possible to sinter, though commercially available in powder form [4]. We have also made theoretical progress on enhancing the performance of ferrite magnets [5]. I close with an outlook for the field. References 1. T.N. Lamichhane et al, Phys. Rev. Appl. 11, 014052 (2019). 2. See R&D100 Announcement at https://www.rdworldonline.com/rd-100-2021-winner/tough-smco/. 3. T. Pandey, M.-H. Du, and D. S. Parker. Phys. Rev. Appl. 9, 034002 (2018): 034002. 4. See commercial Daido Nitroquench powder product at http://www.daido-electronics.co.jp/english/product/nitroquench_p/index.html 5. C. Bhandari, M. E. Flatté, and D. Paudyal. Phys. Rev. Mat. 5, 094415 (2021).