Thursday, January 20, 2011

New Magnets Could Solve Our Rare-Earth Problems - Technology Review

New Magnets Could Solve Our Rare-Earth Problems - Technology Review: The advantage of nanocomposites for magnets is twofold: nanocomposites promise to be stronger than other magnets of similar weight, and they should use less rare-earth metals. What enables better magnetic properties in these nanocomposites is a property called exchange coupling. The physics are complex, but coupling between different nanoparticles in the composite leads to overall magnetic properties that are greater than the sum of the parts.
Exchange coupling can't happen in pure magnet materials, but emerges in composites made of mixtures of nanoparticles of the same metals that are used to make conventional magnets.

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