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SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Innotek (CEO, Moon Hyuksoo) announced on November 5, 2024, that it has developed a 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' with the world's strongest magnetic force without using any Heavy Rare Earth (HRE) metals.
LG Innotek's high-performance eco-friendly magnet
Magnets are essential parts of a variety of power-driven products, including smartphone actuators, vehicle motors, and audio speakers. The push and pull forces of magnets provide this power.
Until now, HRE metals have been used as a key material for magnets, essential for maintaining magnetic strength at high temperatures. However, these metals are primarily sourced from only a few countries, such as China, and are known to have high price fluctuations and supply instabilities due to geopolitical risks.
Additionally, the mining process generates severe environmental pollution. Therefore, developing HRE-free products has been considered an urgent challenge for the industry.
In 2021, LG Innotek introduced a magnet with 60% lower HRE metal content compared to previous magnets. The company's newest product, however, does not use any expensive HRE metals, such as terbium (Tb) or dysprosium (Dy).
This achievement was made possible through collaboration with the Korea Institute of Materials Science, leading to the development of a pioneering multi-component alloy capable of replacing HRE metals. This alloy, uniformly pasted to each magnet and heated for even diffusion, resulted in the development of the 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' recently unveiled by LG Innotek. The company's 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' boasts an industry-leading magnetic performance of 13.8kG (kilogauss, a unit of magnetic field strength).
Previously, HRE metals were considered necessary to increase the durability of magnets at high temperatures. However, the company's 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' boasts at temperatures up to 180℃ without using any HRE elements or expensive precious metals.
China and a few other countries dominate the global market for HRE metals, controlling global supply and demand. Recently, the price of HRE metals has fluctuated significantly as certain countries have taken steps to adjust the supply.
According to the Korea Mineral Resource Information Service (KOMIS), the price of terbium has surged by 331% in four years, rising from USD 900/kg on September 28, 2020, to USD 2,983/kg on February 21, 2022. Dysprosium has also seen increases of up to 189% over the past four years. Such extreme fluctuations in HRE prices are a risk factor that could lead to disruptions in magnet production.
With the development of its 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet', LG Innotek is able to contribute to stabilizing the magnet supply chain by significantly reducing its dependence on certain countries for HRE metals.
By eliminating the need for HRE metals, the company is also able to reduce the cost of raw materials required for magnet production by 60%.
The 'high-performance eco-friendly magne't is also welcome news for major global customers who value eco-friendly technologies to minimize environmental pollution.
Study results show that mining one kilogram of HRE metals generates more than 0.5 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and 450kg of acidic wastewater and radioactive substances.
LG Innotek's 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' eliminates the need for mining HRE metals, enabling global customers to significantly reduce environmental pollutants in their production processes. For example, using 'high-performance eco-friendly magnets' instead of conventional ones in electric vehicles can reduce the generation of environmental pollutants by about 45kg per vehicle.
LG Innotek plans to apply its 'high-performance eco-friendly magnet' to its products, such as smartphone actuators, to further enhance their price competitiveness.
In addition, it will actively promote the product to global automakers, automotive parts companies, and smartphone manufacturers to expand its application to sectors such as home appliances and robots.
LG Innotek Chief Technology Officer S. David Roh said, "LG Innotek is also developing rare earth-free magnets that use no heavy or light rare earths at all." He went on to say, "We will continue to deliver distinguished customer value to our customers by introducing innovative materials and parts ahead of the curve."
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