From London, a company in collaboration with the Henry Royce Institute and the University of Sheffield has created MagNex, a magnet without rare earth elements. This breakthrough has been made possible by an artificial intelligence (AI) platform developed by the company.
Importantly, the global transition to electric vehicles will significantly increase demand for these magnets, which could outstrip supply by the end of the decade.
Materials Nexus creates magnet without rare earth elements
Magnets are made from rare earth minerals such as neodymium and dysprosium such as neodymium and dysprosium, whose extraction and supply are subject to vulnerabilities. Materials Nexus, the company behind the innovative magnet, aims to address these challenges by designing new materials that not only replace existing ones, but also reduce emissions from production processes to zero.
It is crucial to understand the pitfalls of the traditional method of materials discovery, based on trial and error, which is costly and time-consuming. Materials Nexus seeks to transform this process by employing AI models that enable new materials to be designed and tested more efficiently. Jonathan Bean, CEO and co-founder of the company, explained that their platform uses quantum mechanical quantum mechanics to generate precise data that is then processed by machine learning algorithms, thus optimizing the material’s formula.
MagNex reduces costs and emissions with AI
The team tested this technology in the development of permanent magnets without rare earths, analyzing more than 100 million candidate material compositions. After three months of design and testing, they were able to produce MagNex at only 20% of the material cost and in 200 times faster time than the conventional approach.
In addition, Iain Todd, professor of metallurgy and materials processing at the University of Sheffield, highlighted the collaboration with Materials Nexus, stressing that the use of AI in addition to speeding up the process, reduced carbon emissions by 70% compared to traditional magnets. Bean added that this scalable methodology will not only revolutionize the field of magnetism, but all of materials science, enabling the creation of new industrial products.
Finally, Bean mentioned that the Materials Nexus platform platform has attracted interest in a variety of applications, from semiconductors to catalysts to coatings, anticipating a significant impact on solving environmental and supply chain issues.
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Source: materialsnexus
Photo: Freepik