Ames National Laboratory scientist Matt Kramer is an expert source on magnetism in this MIT Technology Review news story about Minnesota-based start-up Niron Magnetics, which is building a large-scale manufacturing facility to produce alternative permanent magnets made of iron nitride.
High performance permanent magnets, used in a wide variety of clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and some wind turbines, are traditionally made of rare earth metals, elements that are in increasingly high demand, not produced domestically, and difficult to extract from mined ore. Niron’s objective is to optimize iron-nitride magnets for use as a high performance permanent magnet that can act as a substitute for traditional rare-earth permanent magnets.
Niron Magnetics is a partner with Ames National Laboratory through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Strategic Partnership Program.
News Link: Technology Review: How new magnets could accelerate climate action