How a Minneapolis company could transform manufacturing of essential magnets for consumer electronics, clean energy transition
From consumer electronics to carbon-free energy makers like wind turbines, inside there are permanent magnets that power so many of the products people rely on every day.
Many miles from Silicon Valley, near downtown Minneapolis, Niron Magnetics is daring to create them in a way that could set off a chain reaction across the globe.
Its name gives clues — the main components of the start-up's proprietary technology are iron and nitrogen, two of the most abundant raw materials. Permanent magnets on the market right now consist of rare earth elements that can be challenging, costly and environmentally damaging to mine.
After more than a decade of research and development, Frank Johnson, the chief technology officer for the company, said in an interview that they have discovered something special: how to use those two elements to manufacture permanent magnets without rare earths, which can also be hard to come by depending on what's happening around the world.
Niron's magnets are clean — the only byproduct is salt water — and rare-earth free.
"There will always be these types of potential supply chain disruptions whenever we have materials coming from overseas," Johnson said. "The preferable solution, in my mind, actually, is just to have a source that bypasses those by taking advantage of technology to try to solve this problem."
One country has a grip on supply: China produces 90% of the world's permanent magnets, according to a memo from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. More than a decade ago when a dispute with Japan halted shipments to that country, there were cascading impacts across the world.
After that happened, the U.S. funded projects looking at alternatives, including one at the University of Minnesota. There, Professor Jian-Ping Wang's research laid the foundation for what later became Niron Magnetics, which produces potent iron nitride magnets that the company is preparing to scale up and could one day end up in cellphones, speakers, refrigerators and more all around the world.
"The iron nitride compound itself is fundamentally a stronger magnet than the rare earth magnets. It's about 50% stronger. The challenge is getting all of those properties in a product," Johnson said.
As it looks to the future, Niron could play a significant role in the clean energy transition. Permanent magnets are in wind turbines and motors for electric vehicles and demand is expected to outstrip supply in the next couple of decades.
The International Energy Agency estimates demand could increase three to seven-fold by 2040.
In an announcement of an additional award from the federal government, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm counted Niron as among projects that "will catalyze the commercialization of promising technologies so that they are available to be broadly deployed across the country in support of reaching our clean energy future."
Others seem to agree. Time Magazine listed it as one of the best inventions of 2023 and its investors include Samsung, GM, Stellantis and Volvo.
Johnson believes Niron's technology could be as transformative to society as the light bulb.
"We wouldn't be able to do many of the things we do today without permanent magnets," he said.
In Sartell, the company is building what it boasts as the first magnet manufacturing plant in the United States in 40 years. There they will be able to produce millions of magnets.
Soon, Niron officials say they will launch magnet prototypes for product developers who would use them to provide feedback.
