Nanostructuring and Composition Engineering of Novel Ferrite Based Permanent Magnets

Overview

Electric vehicles, wind turbines, and industrial motors all depend on strong permanent magnets. The strongest ones today contain rare-earth elements, which are costly, concentrated in a few countries, and vulnerable to supply disruptions. Ferrite magnets, made from iron oxide ceramics, are cheap and abundant, but they are not strong enough for many demanding motors. My research aims to close this gap by improving ferrite’s properties through various strategies.

Technical description

Usethermodynamics stability of relevant ferrites as a function of cation dopants, and impacts of varying environmental conditions (e.g. pO2 during sintering) on formation and stability of high flux density soft magnetic phases in metal / ferrite-based nanocomposites. Analytical and micromagnetic modelling will inform rules for microstructural design.

Why it matters

• Stronger ferrite magnets enable traction motors that need less or no rare-earth material.
• Supply chain resilience: Iron-oxide-based magnets use abundant, domestically available materials, cutting cost and supply risk.