Product & Technology Director
MagREEsource, France.
By Dr. Sophie Rivoirard, Product & Technology Director of MagREEsource, France.
Nd-Fe-B is the most widely used hard magnetic material in applications including the electronic and automotive sectors, electromobility and wind powder (e.g. motors, turbines, magnetic valves, sensors). Current standard Nd-Fe-B magnets contain up to 30% of rare earth elements, such as Neodymium or Dysprosium, which are on the EU list of critical elements and which are, for more than 95%, mined in the People’s Republic of China. This sourcing raises both environmental and geopolitical issues while the present demand for rare earth magnets is increasing by a rate of nearly 9%/year due to an increasing production of green technologies items (electric vehicles, wind turbines…). In those applications, rare earth containing magnets cannot be replaced. Alternative sources of magnet materials will be in high demand in the next decade. Therefore, one incentive in the European Union is to develop recycling processes for Nd-Fe-B magnets. MagREEsource is a spin off company from CNRS founded in 2020, which benefits from more than 25 years of expertise within CNRS laboratories in Grenoble in the field of Rare Earth-Transition Metal phase and associated processes, which includes NdFeB magnets and Hydrogen processes.
MagREEsource has licensed the know-how and Intellectual Property developped in Neel Institute at CNRS Grenoble in the frame of the work led by S. Rivoirard, (Engineer at the Institut Néel and co-founder) on the recycling of Rare Earth based magnets and primarly initiated by D. Fruchart in the 90’ies. MagREEsource is hosted at CNRS Grenoble laboratory and is currently working on an industrial plant in the Rhone-Alpes region to start high scale production. As a player in the Circular Economy, MagREEsource’s objective is therefore to promote magnets at the end of their life, by producing new magnets for European manufacturers of motors, sensors and actuators, promoting a loop as short as possible between supply and customer.
Co-authors:
S. Rivoirard1,2, E. Petit2, D. Fruchart1
(1) CNRS-UGA/Neel Institute, Grenoble, France
(2) MagREEsource SAS, Grenoble, France
Biography
PhD in Physics and Materials head of Magnetic Material and treatment Lab at Institut Neel, CNRS Grenoble – since 1999. At the origin of the NdFeB magnet recycling process and related IP, S.Rivoirard leads a team of highly qualified PhD engineers and technicians.