Ames Laboratory scientists have come up with a new process to prepare neodymium-iron-boron (Nd2Fe14B) permanent magnets that has the potential to enable them to be produced economically here in the United States. What’s more, the Ames Laboratory process doesn’t produce the environmentally unfriendly byproducts that result from traditional manufacturing methods.
“Neodymium iron boron magnets represent perhaps one of the most important use of rare earth elements,” says Karl A. Gschneidner, Jr., senior metallurgist at Ames Lab, who co-developed the process along with Rick Schmidt, principal scientist emeritus. “They’re the most powerful magnets in the world.” And they can be found in every computer and every hybrid and electric vehicle that rolls off an assembly line as well as a wide array of consumer, commercial and military products. (Read more)
