The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) announced an investment of more than $35 million in federal funds towards 42 projects through the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness (CLIMR) Lab Call. The investment will help move innovative energy technologies developed at DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites into the marketplace. The selected projects will also leverage over $21 million in cost-share from private and public partners, bringing total funding to more than $57.5 million.
Among the funded projects is, "In-Situ Fabrication of Non-Rare Earth Magnets Within Motors During Assembly," led by Jun Cui at Ames National Laboratory. The project seeks to develop an injection molding (IM)-based technology for the in-situ fabrication of non-rare earth MnBi bonded magnets during the motor assembly process. Fine MnBi powder, with a particle size of less than 10 μm, is first converted into anisotropic granules with a particle size of 300±100 μm, making them suitable for handling in air. These MnBi granules are then combined with binders and processed into composite pellets with a higher loading fraction through extrusion. Finally, the pellets are integrated into motor parts and magnetized during assembly using injection molding. This approach aims to enable the costeffective, large-scale production of high-performance rare-earth free industrial motors.