Materials Nexus AI-based material development produces new magnets

Related Vendors

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

MagNex is a novel permanent magnet without rare earths. The special thing about it is that the production of the magnet is 80 percent cheaper compared to rare earths and the carbon emissions were reduced by 70 percent.

The development of MagNex by Materials Nexus is a new step in the field of materials research. Unlike traditional magnets, which often rely on rare earths, MagNex is completely free of these controversial materials. The use of an AI-supported materials development platform enabled MagNex to be developed in just three months. The magnets are not only cheaper, but also reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent. In the field of electromobility and wind energy, they are therefore an environmentally friendly and above all sustainable alternative to magnets with rare earths. As most of the production of rare earths comes from China, MagNex also offers a promising opportunity to improve the supply security for critical raw materials and reduce dependency on geopolitically unstable regions.

Using artificial intelligence, the synthesis and testing of the MagNex magnets took only 3 months. Current procedures take about 200 times longer in comparison. The aim of Materials Nexus is to accelerate the transition to net-zero materials through the use of AI technology. Thus, the magnets are just one area in which the company is researching.

Magnetic properties

Currently, no real details about the magnetic properties are known. However, it can be said that rare earths such as neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium are known for their excellent magnetic properties. Neodymium (Nd) increases the saturation magnetization, dysprosium (Dy) enhances the temperature stability, and terbium (Tb) contributes to the magnetic anisotropy, which means that the magnet has a preferred direction of magnetization.

It is already known that similar temperature properties can be achieved through materials such as manganese-bismuth (MnBi). MnBi has a Curie temperature (temperature up to which the magnetic properties remain stable) of about 630 K (357 °C). This comes from the hexagonal crystal structure of MnBi, which is similar to nickel-arsenide (NiAs). The NiAs structure is a significant crystal structure in materials science, which is used in a variety of high-tech applications due to its stable hexagonal arrangement and its special bonding properties.

With advancing research and development, MagNex could therefore play a key role in high-performance applications such as electromobility and renewable energies. However, there is a risk that the new technologies will not come to market quickly enough, thus established industries may hesitate to use these materials. The successful integration into existing production processes and acceptance in conservative industrial sectors will be crucial for the breakthrough of MagNex. Therefore, the development and optimization of production processes is now in the foreground. (mr)