These new iron-nitride magnets are stronger, cleaner to make, and made from domestic iron-salt waste and nitrogen.
Science is slowly chipping away at the various environmental and geopolitical objections most frequently cited against electric vehicles. Niron Magnetic’s latest advance, the Clean Earth Magnet, promises to settle the thorny issue of mining-intensive, largely Chinese-sourced rare-earth magnets upon which the strongest, most efficient electric motors rely. And happily, this cure is in no way worse (or more expensive) than the symptom!
The Problem
As we’ve noted, rare earth materials aren’t particularly rare—they’re relatively abundant, but they’re highly dispersed, meaning that large volumes of material must be collected, from which the rare earths are then crack-leached with solvents that help isolate the neodymium or other materials, before sintering the final magnets together. The entire process is energy intensive, costly, and risks contaminating local water.
Iron Nitride to the Rescue
Science has long known that a certain rare phase of iron nitride, known as an alpha-double-prime crystal structure of Fe16N2, holds extremely strong magnetic properties. But when produced by conventional means over the decades, the phase would degrade into more common, less magnetic phases. Then researchers at the University of Minnesota figured out a way to form this magic magnet material on a nano-scale using chemical vapor deposition or liquid phase epitaxy, and then developed a process for compacting and sintering nanoparticles of α″-Fe16N2 into magnets in the sizes and form factors allowing direct replacement of today’s rare-earth permanent magnet motors.
Clean Earth Magnets, by the Numbers
Magnetic strength in the magnets used in electric motors is measured in tesla (where 1 tesla = 10,000 Gauss, for those more familiar with the unit used to measure Earth’s magnetic pull). Weaker hard ferrite (iron-oxide) permanent magnets typically max out at around 0.35 tesla. The world’s strongest permanent magnets made of neodymium measure around 1.4‑1.6 teslas. Niron’s Clean Earth iron nitride permanent magnets peg the meter at 2.4 teslas. Niron Clean Earth magnets are also said to lose less magnetism over the typical operating temperature range than today’s rare-earth permanent magnets.
Better yet: Niron’s entire manufacturing process, from raw ore material to finished magnets, can be produced in a single factory on existing equipment, with 80 percent less CO2 and vastly less water usage, at a price that is currently on par with rare-earth magnets and utterly immune to price volatility due to supply chain and geopolitical forces.
Further icing on the cake: the iron is best sourced from iron salts that are a byproduct of steel manufacturing, with nitrogen sourced from ammonia. Produce that ammonia from air and water in a location that generates surplus solar or wind energy, and you get both clean nitrogen and a source of clean hydrogen that can help power the process.
Production Ramp Up
Stellantis and GM invested last year, and suppliers Allison, Magna, and Samsung have as well—the latter for audio applications. Niron is currently transitioning from gram-scale lab production to ton-scale pilot production, with the first 1,500-ton facility expected to come online in 2026. You could potentially purchase a car using Niron Clean Earth magnets within one to three years. If you do, those first magnets will power your audio system’s loudspeakers, while three years from now they’ll start powering things like window-lift motors. It’s harder to predict when Niron Clean Earth magnets will hit EV traction motors, as there’s strong pull from the industrial and wind-energy sectors (a single big wind turbine might employ 6,000 pounds of permanent magnets!). We reckon they’d be ideal for maximizing power density on in-wheel motors, and we look forward to sharing the news of their rollout on EVs. Stay tuned!
