Stabilization of Nitride Magnet Material Via Sol-Gel Route

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Stabilization of Nitride Magnet Material Via Sol-Gel Route--Chemat Technology, Inc., 19365 Business Center Drive, Suite 8 & 9, Northridge, CA 91324-3526; (818) 727-9786
Dr. Yuhong Huang, Principal Investigator
Ms. Jenny Sajoto, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-97ER82347
Amount: $75,000

Today permanent magnets play an important role in technology. The development of smaller and stronger permanent magnets will allow the construction of smaller devices that consume less energy. The discovery of rare earth iron nitride magnetic materials has brought about a worldwide search for other materials that offer improved magnetic properties, such as high magnetization, anisotropic fields, and coercivity. These permanent magnets can be used at high temperature due to their high thermal conductivity. However, these materials are not stable at temperatures higher than 600oC. Thus, sintered permanent magnet cannot be produced using current technologies. Another problem is that the magnetic properties of these materials degrade with time. If these two problem can be solved, small lightweight devices can then be fabricated from these materials. In Phase I, sol-gel technology will be used to synthesize these high- performance permanent magnets. The advantages of sol-gel technology include excellent control of stoichiometry of precursor solutions, direct fabrication of nitride, low sintering temperature, homogeneity of the materials and fine grain structure, low cost, and simple and inexpensive equipment. In Phase II, the production line will be scaled up, and these high-performance permanent magnets will be commercialized.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The annual market for permanent magnetic materials alone is approximately $3 billion per year and growing steadily. Permanent magnetic materials play a significant role in a variety of technologies ranging from magnetic data storage devices to large electrical motors. Using sol-gel technology, rare earth iron nitride powder and sintered magnetic materials can be fabricated with high quality and low cost. Applications include computer peripherals, printers, actuators, spin imagers, guided wave pipes, bearings, and acoustic devices. In a full-sized family car alone, there are about 20-30 devices that use permanent magnets.