Parole chiave:
Rare-earth-free magnets
Permanent magnets
Rare-earths
Magnetic characterization
Hard and semi-hard magnetic materials
Permanent magnets are vital for renewable energy technologies, including wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, and electric vehicles. Their role in converting natural energy into electricity makes them key to the green energy transition. With growing demand for high-performance magnets, developing strong, lightweight, and durable permanent magnets is essential to improve energy efficiency. Currently, the market is dominated by low-performance ferrites and high-performance rare-earth (RE) magnets, which raise environmental and cost concerns. To address this, researchers are exploring sustainable "gap magnets" with intermediate performance to reduce reliance on RE materials in applications like small motors, sensors, and actuators.
My research interests are mainly focused on the development and characterization of new materials for rare-earth-free permanent magnets. Synthesis techniques for sample preparation include arc melting, induction melting, melt spinning, and mechanical alloying. Characterization techniques for intrinsic (Curie temperature, saturation magnetization, anisotropy field) and extrinsic (remanence, coercivity, energy product) magnetic properties include vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), closed loop magnetometry, AC susceptometry,singular point detection (SPD). I am involved in different projects and collaborations with magnetic powders manufacturers and companies active in the automotive sector.
