Comments
John_Hasler t1_iuafm8y wrote
The paper
DadOfFan t1_iubk1h0 wrote
I tried to read it. Yeah, Nah, got lost pretty quickly.
Castle-dev t1_iuc26n3 wrote
Explain it to me like I’m 5
SemanticTriangle t1_iucdp20 wrote
Nickel iron magnets are strong but soft unless the crystal structure is very specifically ordered. By adding a little phosphorus, we can trick the nickel and iron into the right order to make them into a hard and strong magnet.
[deleted] t1_iuc9kyv wrote
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DanYHKim t1_iuavxvm wrote
By the way, here is part 1 of a series from BBC able the rare Earth metals and their geopolitical significance.
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[deleted] t1_iucf6ru wrote
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[deleted] t1_iuaxrrj wrote
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OnlyNeverAlwaysSure t1_iublzxs wrote
This is so wild to me.
So with iron, nickel and phosphorus + science and we have a magnet that may replace our need for rare earth metal batteries. That truly would be groundbreaking right?
John_Hasler t1_iubrj9l wrote
> rare earth metal batteries
No, rare earth metal magnets.
OnlyNeverAlwaysSure t1_iubugmf wrote
Doh, yes I just read that it was magnet not battery. Brain bad.
spectacular_coitus t1_iuajz6t wrote
So when they refer to "Cosmic Magnets" they refer to rare earths. So is this just another way to manufacture neodymium or samarium–cobalt magnets?
Rzah t1_iuautfk wrote
The material is roughly 65%* magnetic strength of Neodymium, it is found in meteorites that had just the right composition and spent millions of years cooling down, now we can simply cast it. It will likely replace rare earths for a lot of applications.
* article says theoretical max of 335 kJ/m^3 for Tetrataenite vs 512 kJ/m^3 for Neodymium
/edit, not an expert, just was curious how it compared and went looking, your comment seemed best place to dump what I found.
SemanticTriangle t1_iucdtpa wrote
We generally use NdFeB magnets or similar alloys, which have magnetic energy products comparable to this specific NiFe based mineral.
FUZxxl OP t1_iuakiuc wrote
These “cosmic magnets” are nickel-iron magnets. The key promising thing is that they can be made without any rare earth elements.
John_Hasler t1_iuaphjm wrote
>So when they refer to "Cosmic Magnets" they refer to rare earths.
No. Meteorites.
>So is this just another way to manufacture neodymium or samarium–cobalt magnets?
No. These materials consist of iron, nickel, and phosphorus. Read the article.
spectacular_coitus t1_iub66ua wrote
I did read the article, but thanks for a condescending remark to somebody looking for some clarification. You're doing a real credit to the sciences with that kind of attitude. Really makes me want to be more curious and ask questions about science.
John_Hasler t1_iubfj6h wrote
This assertion
> So when they refer to "Cosmic Magnets" they refer to rare earths.
directly contradicts the article. This led me to believe that you had not read it. It's quite common for people to post comments here without having done so.
DadOfFan t1_iubkano wrote
What was condescending about his reply? Has he edited it?
Sierra-117- t1_iua713a wrote
“Previous attempts to make tetrataenite in the laboratory have relied on impractical, extreme methods. But the addition of a common element – phosphorus – could mean that it’s possible to make tetrataenite artificially and at scale, without any specialised treatment or expensive techniques.”
“The researchers say that phosphorus, which is present in meteorites, allows the iron and nickel atoms to move faster, enabling them to form the necessary ordered stacking without waiting for millions of years. By mixing iron, nickel and phosphorus in the right quantities, they were able to speed up tetrataenite formation by between 11 and 15 orders of magnitude, such that it forms over a few seconds in simple casting.
‘What was so astonishing was that no special treatment was needed: we just melted the alloy, poured it into a mould, and we had tetrataenite,” said Greer. “The previous view in the field was that you couldn’t get tetrataenite unless you did something extreme, because otherwise, you’d have to wait millions of years for it to form. This result represents a total change in how we think about this material.’”
This is… actually quite promising. Usually in r/science there’s a massive caveat. But if there is one here, it’s not obvious. A reaction done with abundant materials at achievable temperatures and timescales. Without specialized equipment.
If tetrataenite truly can be used to replace rare earth metals in some applications, this is a massive discovery.