Researchers Discover Way to Make Magnets Without Rare Earth Metals

Researchers Discover Way to Make Magnets Without Rare Earth Metals
Photo taken on Aug. 20, 2012, shows factories processing rare earths on the edge of the Chinese city of Baotou. China produces more than 95 percent of the world's rare earths, 17 elements crucial for making a range of hi-tech products. Two-thirds of that is processed in mineral-rich Baotou on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Naveen Athrappully
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Scientists from the University of Cambridge and their Austrian colleagues have discovered a novel method of making magnets without the use of rare earth metals, an innovation that could offer a possibility for Western countries to veer away from overly depending on China for the tech-critical materials.

Researchers found a way to produce tetrataenite, an alloy of iron and nickel, which can replace magnets made from rare earths. Tetrataenite usually forms naturally in meteorites. When meteorites cool down, the nickel and iron atoms order themselves in a specific structure, eventually ending up as a material that has properties almost similar to that of magnets made of rare earth elements. This is a process that takes millions of years.