Ames Laboratory scientists create new lower cost magnetic alloy

April 29, 2015

Karl A Gschneidner and fellow scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, Iowa, USA, have created a new magnetic alloy that is an alternative to traditional rare-earth permanent magnets.

The new alloy, a potential replacement for high-performance permanent magnets found in automobile engines and wind turbines, eliminates the use of one of the scarcest and costliest rare earth elements, dysprosium, and instead uses cerium, the most abundant rare earth.

The result, an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron co-doped with cerium and cobalt, is a less expensive material with properties that are competitive with traditional sintered magnets containing dysprosium.

Experiments performed at Ames Laboratory by post-doctoral researcher Arjun Pathak and Mahmud Khan (now at Miami University) demonstrated that the cerium-containing alloy’s intrinsic coercivity – the ability of a magnetic material to resist demagnetisation – far exceeds that of dysprosium-containing magnets at high temperatures. The materials are at least 20 to 40% cheaper than the dysprosium-containing magnets.

“This is quite exciting result. We found that this material works better than anything out there at temperatures above 150° C,” stated Gschneidner. “It’s an important consideration for high-temperature applications.”

Previous attempts to use cerium in rare-earth magnets failed because it reduces the Curie temperature, the temperature above which an alloy loses its permanent magnet properties. The research team discovered, however, that co-doping with cobalt allowed them to substitute cerium for dysprosium without losing desired magnetic properties.

Finding a comparable substitute material is key to reducing manufacturing reliance on dysprosium as the current demand for it far outpaces mining and recycling sources for it.

The paper, “Cerium: An Unlikely Replacement of Dysprosium in High Performance Nd-Fe-B Permanent Magnets” was published in Advanced Materials, and co-authored by Arjun K. Pathak, Mahmud Khan, Karl. A. Gschneidner, Ralph W. McCallum, Lin Zhou, Kewei Sun, Kevin W. Dennis, Matthew J. Kramer and Vitalij Pecharsky of the Ames Laboratory; Chen Zhou of MEDA Engineering and Technical Services LLC; and Frederik E. Pinkerton of General Motors R&D Center.

The research was supported by the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E REACT program (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy–Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies) which develops cost-effective alternatives to rare earths, the naturally occurring minerals with unique magnetic properties that are used in electric vehicle (EV) motors and wind generators. The REACT projects identify low-cost and abundant replacement materials for rare earths while encouraging existing technologies to use them more efficiently.

www.ameslab.gov   

Recent issue of Powder Metallurgy review - your go-to resource to stay updated on the world of powder metallurgy and metal powders

In the latest issue of PM Review…

PM Review Spring 2023

Download PDF

Extensive Powder Metallurgy industry news coverage, and the following exclusive deep-dive articles and reports:

  • GKN Powder Metallurgy: A strategic vision for the future of permanent magnets for EVs
  • Building trust in the Powder Metallurgy industry: The role of standardisation and an update on recent work by ISO/TC 119
  • High-volume powder production for Additive Manufacturing: SMS group’s continuous metal powder production process
  • Development of enhanced-performance PM brake pads for high-speed trains by Beijing Tianyishangjia New Material Corp., Ltd.
  • The START project: Creating a sustainable supply chain for green energy harvesting products by Powder Metallurgy
  • World PM2022: Reviewing three innovative methods for metal powder production

The latest news from the world of metal powders, delivered to your inbox

Don't miss any new issue of PM Review, and get the latest industry news. Sign up to our weekly newsletter.

Sign up

Join our community

From the industry…

Discover our magazine archive…

The free-to-access PM Review magazine archive offers unparalleled insight into the world of Powder Metallurgy from a commercial and technological perspective through:

  • Reports on visits to leading PM part manufacturers, metal powder manufacturers and industry suppliers
  • Articles on technology and application trends
  • Information on materials developments
  • Reviews of key technical presentations from the international conference circuit
  • International industry news

All past issues are available to download as free PDFs or view in your browser.

 

Browse the archive

 

Looking for PM production equipment, metal powders, R&D support and more?

Discover suppliers of these and more in our
advertisers’ index and buyer’s guide, available in the back of PM Review magazine.

  • Powders & materials
  • Powder process, classification & analysis
  • PM products
  • Atomisers & powder production technology
  • Compaction presses, tooling & ancillaries
  • Sintering equipment & ancillaries
  • Post-processing
  • Consulting & toll sintering
Download PDF
Share via
Copy link