Lower-cost commercial grade Ce enhances performance and reduces cost in gap magnets

CMI scientists at Ames Laboratory conducted this research.

Achievement

The less costly “dirty” cerium samples showed as much as a 5% increase of both coercivity and magnetization resulting also in better energy product.

Significance and impact

This promising result will significantly  lower the production costs of the Ce-based “gap magnet,” yielding substantially increased commercialization opportunities.

Details and next steps

  • Commercial Cerium of 99.9% purity was used instead of laboratory-grade high purity (99.99%) Cerium
  • Next steps involve the detailed microscopical investigation and clarification of the phenomenon,  which may involve an Fe, Co grain boundary phase
Demagnetization curves and energy products of the Zr-doped Ce-based gap magnet with “dirty” (grey) and high-purity (red) cerium; (b) – FE-SEM back scattered images of “clean” and “dirty” samples, showing development of additional grain boundaries enriched with Fe, Co-rich phase.
Demagnetization curves and energy products of the Zr-doped Ce-based gap magnet with “dirty” (grey) and high-purity (red) cerium; (b) – FE-SEM back scattered images of “clean” and “dirty” samples, showing development of additional grain boundaries enriched with Fe, Co-rich phase.