Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications

The Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications is integrated in the Program Nanoscience for Critical Raw Materials of IMDEA Nanoscience and is constituted at present by:

Prof. Alberto Bollero - Group Leader and Program Manager
Dr. Ester M. Palmero - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Cristina Navío - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Andrés Martín Cid - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. José Luis Fernández Cuñado - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Cyrus Zamani - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Hari Krishnan - Postdoctoral researcher
Dr. Anas Eldosouky - Postdoctoral Researcher
Jimena Soler - PhD student
Alonso J. Campos - PhD student
Adrián Fernández - PhD student
Zaida Curbelo - PhD student
Carlos Iglesias - PhD student
Cristina Montero - PhD student
Jorge Vergara - PhD student
Iban Llamas - PhD student
Claire Frank - Master student
Jorge López - Research Assistant
Javier de Vicente - Technician (3D printing and automatism solutions)

The Program Nanoscience for Critical Raw Materials (coordinated by Prof. Alberto Bollero) is working closely with the Program Nanomagnetism (coordinated by Prof. Julio Camarero) at IMDEA Nanoscience.

Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications at IMDEA Nanoscience.

The Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications is working on fundamental and applied aspects of permanent magnets with no or reduced content of critical raw elements (rare-earths). The scope is the complete or partial substitution of strategically and costly rare earths (Nd and Dy) in technological permanent magnets in close collaboration with EU industrial partners. The main research lines are:

◦ Systems under study: MnAl-based, MnBi, L1₀-FeNi, ferrites, hybrid ferrite/NdFeB systems;

◦ Development of nanocrystalline permanent magnets without critical raw materials (rare-earths);

◦ Preparation and characterization of model magnetic nanostructures: thin films and multilayers;

◦ Nanoparticle engineering to synthesize nanoparticles with complex structures and tuned properties;

◦ Electrochemical synthesis of nanowires with permanent magnet properties;

◦ Advanced 3D-printing technologies of magnetic and metallic materials;

◦ Improved and novel technological applications of permanent magnets and magnetic sensors;

◦ Recovery and recycling of permanent magnets in industrial plants.

The quality of the research carried out by the team is proven by 15 initiatives (national and international ones) coordinated or with a P.I. role by the team during the last 5 years. Detailed information about the projects can be found in the Section Projects of this website.

Scientific and technological initiatives coordinated by the Group:
(i) EU H2020 Project “PASSENGER: Pilot Action for Securing a Sustainable European Next Generation of Efficient RE-free magnets” (Ref. 101003914). PASSENGER aims to develop innovative pilot plants in Europe to address an aspect of high economical, technological, social and environmental relevance: a solution for the EU dependency on rare-earth raw materials for permanent magnets, avoiding bottlenecks in the material supply-chain and diminishing the environmental impact. The PASSENGER consortium comprises 20 partners (14 companies) from 8 European countries. The project counts on a €11.3 M budget (€8.9 M from the European Union).

(ii)EU M-era.Net Project “NEXMAG” (Ref. PCIN-2015-126). This project has been designated Success Case by the M.ERA-NET network.
(iii) Bilateral project “ENMA” (Ref. MAT2014-56955-R) between the Northeastern University Boston (Prof. Laura H. Lewis’ Group) and IMDEA Nanociencia, which also involves the company IMA S.L. (Barcelona).
(iv) “3D-MAGNETOH” (Ref. MAT2017-89960-R) involving participation of IMA (Barcelona) and the Institute of Physics - Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia).
(v) Supporting action “EUIN2017-88502”.

Industrial collaborations:

(a) Industrial projects "ECNanoManga" and "GAMMA" with the Swedish company Höganäs, world-leading manufacturer of metal powders.
(b) Innovation Fund (“Cheque Innovación”) by Regional Government of Madrid with the company RAMEM S.A. (Madrid).
(c) Industrial collaboration “Bonded Magnets” with IMA S.L.U. (Barcelona).

The Group is additionally participating in the project UWIPOM2 (with Prof. Alberto Bollero as IMDEA's P.I.) [Ref. 857654]; and in the project NanomagCOST (coordinated by Prof. Rodolfo Miranda, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; and Prof. Alberto Bollero as IMDEA's P.I.) [Ref. S2018/NMT-4321].

In the past, the Group has coordinated the EU Project FP7 NANOPYME (Ref. 310516) and a bilateral German-Spanish action exploring the use of rare-earth/metal multilayers in new sensing devices; and has participated in the project NanoFrontMag-CM (coordinated by Prof. Rodolfo Miranda, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; and Prof. Alberto Bollero as IMDEA's P.I.) [Ref. S2013/MIT-2850].

Magnetic materials are important in the production, transmission and use of electrical energy. It has become obvious over the years that an increased use of low carbon technologies is necessary to ensure a high living standard. Permanent magnets (PMs), used in multitude of technological applications, play a very important role in these efforts. Many nowadays applications traditionally use rare earth (RE)-based PMs, as no relevant problems in terms of availability or high and unstable pricing raised at the time of their implementation. The situation has dramatically changed in recent years due to an increased monopoly.

This increased need of PMs in combination with the strategically geographical situation of REs make mandatory, first, an efficient and well focused use of these elements for specific purposes (high performing applications or micro-scalable devices) and, additionally, a reinforcement in the search of PMs alternatives in applications areas where the use of REs may be reduced or totally avoided.

We work actively in collaboration with international research centers and companies in the search of improved and novel permanent magnet materials. Our research is based on three main pillars:

• Development of basic research and its translation to industry and end-users.
• Up-scalability of the procedures to avoid that achieved advances stop at the laboratory.
• Sustainability through recycling and efficient use of the resources.

Figure 1. Permanent magnets (PMs) in nowadays-technological applications: from energy generation, going through energy transformation and to devices. [Image: IMDEA Nanoscience]

RE-free PMs, constituted by non-critical elements would contribute to solve the EU dependency of REs and would revert the situation of the PMs from the nowadays situation which is determined by the geographical distribution of the raw materials to a new market where the know-how and technological development will determine the market leader.

The Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications works in close cooperation with recognized international research centres [Northeastern University Boston (USA), IFE (Norway), IPSAS (Slovakia)…] and well-established companies [Höganäs AB (Sweden), IMA S.L. (Spain)…] in the search of alternatives to RE-PMs and of more efficient and environmentally friendly synthesis and processing routes for PMs.

Advanced 3D-printing technology is used by the Group for printing rare earth-free and hybrid Neo/ferrite PMs. Laser-assisted additive manufacturing, typically used for 3D-printing of metallic alloys, is not a feasible option for PMs due to the high temperatures achieved during processing. Thermally controlled 3D-printing makes use of PM/polymer composite filament to print magnetic elements. This approach intends to change the actual technological paradigm based on design of devices according to magnets with predefined geometries (in-catalogue), which lately limits their efficiency.

Figure 2. Coercivity development in nanocrystalline MnAl particles achieved by the innovative rapid-milling procedure (30-270 s) followed by reduced-temperature annealing (365ºC/10min). Published in J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 50, 105004 (2017).

 

Figure 3. Synthesis of metallic alloys by gas-atomization and preparation of the metallic/polymer composite by the solution casting method.

Figure 4. 3D-printer used for high-density materials (PMs and metallic alloys). Photograph of metallic/polymer composite (filling factor: 80 wt%) and filament. 3D printed elements (hexagonal columns) prepared from the filament.

Figure 5. First-time fabrication of permanent magnet filament of MnAlC (extensible to different alloys) and 3D-printed magnetic piece with complex structure. More information at Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater., 19 (1), 465-473 (2018).

Figure 6. Precursor materials for the synthesis of ferrites and fabricated magnets (prototypes and large) from ferrite powder with permanent magnet properties.

Figure 7. Recycling of ferrite residues in a manufactory plant. The quality of the recycled ferrite powder has been tested and compared to that of the new starting ferrite material. The magnetic properties of the recycled powder not only match those of the starting material acquired by the company for the production of magnets but exceed them. A coercivity value 3.5 times larger than that of the new starting ferrite powder, accompanied by a 25% increase in remanence, makes this material a new and improved ferrite product to re-enter the production chain in the factory with an extended applications range. Extended information: ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 5, 3243 (2017)

 Figure 8. SEM image of Sr-ferrite sintered magnet prepared at IMA S.L. [Image: IMDEA Nanoscience]

Figure 9. Scooter with an electric ferrite-based motor designed and constructed in the frame of EU- FP7 NANOPYME.

The laboratories dedicated to permanent magnets are divided into six categories:

• Synthesis and processing of magnetic powders and bulk magnets.

 

High-energy ball milling devices; furnace with operation under controlled atmosphere; humidity chamber for testing under extreme operation conditions (controlled temperature and humidity).

• 3D-Printing.

Equipment for composite (permanent magnet/polymer and metal/polymer) synthesis. Extruder of filament and advanced 3D-printing equipment for fabrication of polymeric and high-density magnetic and/or metallic composite components.

• Thin films growth capabilities.

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) equipped with a full range of in-situ characterization techniques (XPS, UPS and LEED); two sputtering devices.

• Electrochemistry experiments.

Equipment for the electrochemical synthesis of complex nanostructures (continuous, multi-layered and core-shell nanowires) with permanent magnet properties; electroplating of metallic elements and alloys; and determination of corrosion resistance by electrochemical corrosion tests.

• Magnetic, morphological, microstructural and compositional characterization.

     

Vectorial vibrating sample magnetometer (v-VSM) with possibility of applying a maximum magnetic field of 3T; three vectorial-magneto-optical Kerr effect (v-MOKE) setups allowing for simultaneous recording of angular hysteresis loops and magnetoresistance curves and operating at low and high temperatures; a high resolution MOKE microscope with possibility of in-situ application of perpendicular and in-plane external magnetic field; teslameter provided with a Hall sensor probe.

Furthermore, microstructural characterization tools (dual FIB/SEM, SEM equipped with EDX detector, TEM,…), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Oxygen/Nitrogen analyzer are also available.

• Electronic capabilities for design and construction of prototypes (motors, sensors…).

 

 

The quality of the research carried out by the team is proven by 15 initiatives (national and international ones) coordinated or with a P.I. role by the team during the last 5 years.

The Projects coordinated by the Group are classified in two categories: scientific-technological projects and industrial projects.

ON-GOING PROJECTS

INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

Project with BOSCH (Germany)
Title: Development of novel high-performance rare earth-free permanent magnets
PI: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entity: BOSCH (Germany)
Duration: 22/08/2022 - 21/08/2025

SCIENTIFIC-TECHNOLOGICAL PROJECTS

1. Title: PASSENGER "Pilot Action for Securing a Sustainable European Next Generation of Efficient RE-free magnets" (Ref. 101003914)
Coordinator: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: EU Horizon 2020
Duration: 01/05/2021 – 30/04/2025
Project costs: € 11.3 M (€ 8.9 M from the European Union)

2. Title: PLOOTO “Product Passport through Twinning of Circular Value Chains” (Ref. 101092008)
Coordinator: Mr. Kostas Kalaboukas (MAGGLIOLI SPA, Italy). PI(IMDEA): Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: EU HORIZON RIA
Duration: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025
Project costs: € 8 M

3. Title: UWIPOM2 “Ultra-Efficient Wireless POwered Micro-robotic joint” (Ref. 857654)
Coordinator: Dr. Efrén Díez (UAH). PI(IMDEA): Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: H2020 FET-Openl
Duration: 01/10/2019 – 30/06/2023
Project costs: € 2.987.000

4. Title: COSMAG “From the Cosmos to the Lab: Development of the L10-FeNi Phase as a Disruptive Permanent Magnet Alternative” (PCI2020-112143)
Coordinator: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Consortium: IMDEA Nanociencia (coordinator), IFW-Dresden (Germany), IPSAS (Slovakia), IMA S.L.U. (Spain)
Financial Entities: M-ERA.NET Call with funding through AEI (Spain), SMWK (Germany), SAS (Slovakia)
Duration: 01/10/2020 – 31/03/2023
Funding: € 623.000

5. Title: RETAIN "Recycling through an affordable implementation of nanoscience: sustainable production of permanent magnets in Europe" (Ref. TED2021-132490BI00)
PIs: Prof. Alberto Bollero / Dr. Ester M. Palmero
Financial Entities: MICINN
Duration: 01/12/2022 - 30/11/2024
Funding: € 253.000

6. Title: NEXUS “Next generation of sustainable permanent magnets with L1₀ structure” (Ref. PID2020-115215RB-C21)
Coordinators and PIs: Prof. Alberto Bollero / Dr. Ester M. Palmero
Coordinated project together with the Group led by Prof. J.J. Suñol's Group at the University of Girona.
Financial Entities: MICINN
Duration: 01/09/2021 - 31/08/2024
Funding: € 121.000

7. MINETHIC "Impulso de la recuperación y valorización de recursos minerales estratégicos para la transición ecológica"
Role in the project: Participating center in R&D activities
PI (IMDEA): Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: CDTI, MICINN
Duration: 01/01/2023 - 30/06/2025

 

5. Title: NanoMagCOST “Solutions of Nanomagnetism for Societal Challengues” (Ref. S2018/NMT-4321)
Coordinator: Prof. Rodolfo Miranda (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
IMDEA Nanociencia's PI: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Duration: 01/01/2019 - 30/04/2023
Funding: € 1.064.800

EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

Title: ExpSkills-REM “Expanding Knowledge and Skills in Rare Earth Permanent Magnets Chain” (Ref. 21104)
Coordinator: Dr. Pavel Korzhavy and Dr. Inna Soroka (KTH, Sweden)
Financial Entities: EIT Raw Materials
Duration: 01/07/2022 - 30/06/2025
Project costs: € 820.000 (€ 734.000 from EIT Raw Materials)

ENDED PROJECTS

INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

1. Industrial collaboration with Höganäs AB (Sweden)
Title: ECNanoManga
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entity: Höganäs AB (Sweden)
Duration: 01/11/2018 – 30/10/2021

2. Industrial collaboration with Höganäs AB (Sweden)
Title: GAMMA
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entity: Höganäs AB (Sweden)
Duration: 01/04/2017 - 30/09/2018

3. Innovation Fund "Cheque Innovación" with RAMEM S.A. (Madrid)
Title: "Síntesis e impresión 3D de materiales compuestos de partículas metálicas y polímeros funcionales"
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero / Dr. Ester M. Palmero
Financial Entity: Regional Government (Comunidad de Madrid)
Duration: 01/01/2018 - 30/06/2018

4. Industrial collaboration with IMA S.L. (Barcelona)
Title: "Bonded Magnets"
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entity: IMA S.L. (Barcelona)
Duration: 01/06/2018 - 31/05/2021

SCIENTIFIC-TECHNOLOGICAL PROJECTS

1. Title: 3D-MAGNETOH “3D-Printing of Mn-based Magnets for a New Energy and Transport Horizon” (MAT2017-89960-R)
P.I.s: Prof. Alberto Bollero / Dr. Ester M. Palmero
Financial Entities: MINECO
Duration: 01/01/2018 – 31/12/2020
Funding: € 90.750

2. Title: NEXMAG “New exchange-coupled Manganese-based magnetic materials” (PCIN-2015-126)
Coordinator: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: MINECO - EU M.ERA-NET Call
Duration: 01/12/2015 – 30/11/2018
Project costs: € 739.400. Funding: € 170.000

NEXMAG designated “Success Case” by the M.ERA-NET Network.

3. Title: NANOPERMAG “Nanociencia aplicada al desarrollo de imanes permanentes libres de tierras raras mediante tecnologías sostenibles” (Ref. EIN2019-103506)
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: MINECO
Duration: 01/01/2019 – 31/12/2020
Funding: € 10.000

4. Title: ENMA “Exchange-coupled Nanocomposite Magnets: Towards Rare Earth-Free Permanent Magnets” (MAT2014-56955-R)
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: MINECO
Duration: 01/01/2015 – 31/12/2017
Funding: € 60.000

5. Title: “Nueva generación de imanes basados en MnAl mediante impresión 3D para aplicaciones energéticas” (EUIN2017-88502)
P.I.: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entities: MINECO
Duration: 01/02/17 – 31/12/18
Funding: € 13.500

6. Title: NANOFRONTMAG “New Frontiers in Fundamental and Applied Nanomagnetism” (S2013/MIT-2850)
Coordinator: Prof. Rodolfo Miranda (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
I.P. by IMDEA Nanociencia: Dr. A. Bollero
Financial Entities: Regional Government (Comunidad de Madrid)
Duration: 01/06/2015 – 30/05/2018
Funding: € 894.400

7. NANOPYME “Nanocrystalline Permanent Magnets Based on Hybrid Metal-Ferrites” [Ref. 310516].
Coordinator: Prof. Alberto Bollero
Financial Entity: FP7 E.U. [7th Framework Programme]
Duration: 01/12/2012 – 31/11/2015
Project costs: 4.5 M€. Funding: 3.5 M€

2022

J.M. Díez, J.L. Fernández-Cuñado, P. Lapa, R. Solís, I. Arnay, P. Pedraz, P. Perna, A. Bollero, R. Miranda, I.K. Schuller, and J. Camarero, Interfacial exchange phenomena driven by ferromagnetic domains, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 9 (21), 2200331 (2022).

D. Cabrera, T. Yoshida, T. Rincón-Domínguez, J.L. Fernández-Cuñado, G. Salas, A. Bollero, M.P. Morales, J. Camarero, and F.J. Terán, Superparamagnetic-blocked state transition under alternating magnetic fields: towards determining the magnetic anisotropy in magnetic suspensions, Nanoscale 14, 8789-8796 (2022).

A. Bollero and E.M. Palmero, Recent advances in hard - ferrite magnets, in J.J. Croat and J. Ormerod (eds.) Modern Permanent Magnets, pp. 65-112, Elsevier (2022)

2021

J. Rial, P. Švec, P. Švec Sr., A. Bollero, and S. Deledda, Coercivity development in MnAl ribbons by microstructural modifications achieved through cold-rolling process, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 529, 167826 (2021).

L. Zha, C. Kim, C. Yun, D. Zhou, W. Li, X. Kong, L. Han, W. Yang, S. Liu, J. Han, C. Wang, H. Du, W. Xia, A. Bollero, and J. Yang, A novel strategy for the fabrication of high-performance nanostructured Ce-Fe-B magnetic materials via electron-beam exposure, Sci. China Mater. 64, 2519-2529 (2021).

M. Villanueva, E.H. Sánchez, P. Olleros-Rodríguez, P. Pedraz, P. Perna, P.S. Normile, J.A. de Toro, J. Camarero, C. Navío, and A. Bollero, Effective control of the magnetic anisotropy in ferromagnetic MnBi micro-islands, J. Alloys Compd. 852, 156731 (2021).

E.M. Palmero and A. Bollero, 3D and 4D printing of functional and smart composite materials, in “Encyclopedia of Materials: Composites” – Materials Science and Materials Engineering, Vol. 2, pp. 402-419, Elsevier (2021)

2020

C. Muñoz-Rodríguez, L. Feng, E.M. Palmero, T. Mix, J. Rial, F. Olsson, B. Skårman, H. Vidarsson, P.-O. Larsson, T.G. Woodcock, and A. Bollero, Fabrication of bulk τ MnAl–C magnets by hot-pressing from ε-phase gas-atomized and milled powder, J. Alloys Compd. 847, 156361 (2020).

E.M. Palmero, D. Casaleiz, J. de Vicente, B. Skårman, H Vidarsson, P.-O. LArsson, and A. Bollero, Effect of particle size distribution on obtaining novel MnAl-based permanent magnet composites and flexible filaments for 3D-printing, Addit. Manuf. 33, 101179 (2020).

I. García-Cortés, S. Cabrera, M. Medrano, A. Moroño, P. Muñoz, A. Soleto, I. Bugallo, A. Nieto, R. Altimira, A. Bollero, J. Camarero, and J.L.F. Cuñado, RMATE: A device to test radiation-induced effects under controlled magnetic field and temperature, Fusion Eng. Des. 154, 111431 (2020).

J. Rial, E.M. Palmero, and A. Bollero, Efficient nanostructuring of isotropic gas-atomized MnAl powder by rapid milling (30 s), Engineering 6 (2), 173-177 (2020).

A. Bollero, V. Neu, V. Baltz, D. Serantes, J.L.F. Cuñado, J. Pedrosa, E.M. Palmero, M. Seifert, B. Dieny, R.P. del Real, M. Vázquez, O. Chubykalo-Fesenko, and J. Camarero, An extraordinary chiral exchange-bias phenomenon: engineering the sign of the bias field in orthogonal bilayers by a magnetically switchable response mechanism, Nanoscale 12, 1155-1163 (2020).

2019

J.L.F. Cuñado, J. Camarero, F.J. Pedrosa, N.M. Nemes, M. Sanz, M. Oujja, E. Rebollar, J.F. Marco, J. de la Figuera, M. Monti, M. Castillejo, T. Feher, B. Nafradi, L. Forró and A. Bollero, Evidence of anomalous switching of the in-plane magnetic easy axis with temperature in Fe₃O₄ film on SrTiO₃:Nb by v-MOKE and ferromagnetic resonance, Nanoscale 11, 19870-19876 (2019).

E.M. Palmero, D. Casaleiz, J. de Vicente, J. Hernández-Vicen, S. López-Vidal, E. Ramiro, and A. Bollero, Composites based on metallic particles and tuned filling factor for 3D-printing by Fused Deposition Modeling, Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 124, 105497 (2019).

M. Villanueva, C. Navío, E. Céspedes, F. Mompeán, M. García-Hernández, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, MnBi thin films for high temperature permanent magnet applications, AIP Adv. 9, 035325 (2019).

V. Øygarden, J. Rial, A. Bollero, and S. Deledda, Phase-pure τ-MnAlC produced by mechanical alloying and a one-step annealing route, J. Alloys Compd. 779, 776-783 (2019).

E.M. Palmero, D. Casaleiz, N.A. Jiménez, J. Rial, J. de Vicente, A. Nieto, R. Altimira, and A. Bollero, Magnetic-polymer composites for bonding and 3D-printing of permanent magnets, IEEE Trans. Magn. 55 (2), 2101004 (2019). 

2018

C. Navío, M. Villanueva, E. Céspedes, F. Mompeán, M. García-Hernández, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, Ultrathin films of L1₀-MnAl on GaAs (001): A hard magnetic MnAl layer onto a soft Mn-Ga-As-Al interface, APL Mater. 6, 101109 (2018).

J. Rial, P. Švec, E.M. Palmero, J. Camarero, P. Švec Sr., and A. Bollero, Severe tuning of permanent magnet properties in gas-atomized MnAl powder by controlled nanostructuring and phase transformation, Acta Mater., 157, 42-52 (2018).

E.M. Palmero, J. Rial, J. de Vicente, J. Camarero, B. Skårman, H. Vidarsson, P.-O. Larsson, and A. Bollero, Development of permanent magnet MnAlC/polymer composites and flexible filament for bonding and 3D-printing technologies, Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater., 19 (1), 465-473 (2018).

2017

A.Bollero, J. Rial, M. Villanueva, K.M. Golasinski, A. Seoane, J. Almunia, and R. Altimira, Recycling of strontium ferrite waste in a permanent magnet manufacturing plant, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 5 (4), 3243-3249 (2017).

J.Rial, M. Villanueva, E. Céspedes, N. López, J. Camarero, L.G. Marshall, L.H. Lewis, and A. Bollero, Application of a novel flash-milling procedure for coercivity development in nanocrystalline MnAl permanent magnet powders, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 50 (10), 105004 (2017).

M.N. Guzik, K.M. Golasinski, F.J. Pedrosa, P. Jenuš, A. Bollero, B.C. Hauback, and S. Deledda, Influence of ultra-short cryomilling on the microstructural and magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite, J. Alloys Compd., 721, 440-448 (2017).

E.Céspedes, M. Villanueva, C. Navío, F.J. Mompeán, M. García-Hernández, A. Inchausti, P. Pedraz, M.R. Osorio, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, High coercive LTP-MnBi for high temperature applications: From isolated particles to film-like structures, J. Alloys Compd., 729, 1156-1164 (2017).

J.Y. Law, J. Rial, M. Villanueva, N. López, J. Camarero, L.G. Marshall, J.S. Blázquez, J.M. Borrego, V. Franco, A. Conde, L.H. Lewis, and A. Bollero, Study of phases evolution in high-coercive MnAl powders obtained through short milling time of gas-atomized particles, J. Alloys Compd., 712, 373-378 (2017).

J.L.F. Cuñado, A. Bollero, T. Pérez-Castañeda, P. Perna, F. Ajejas, F.J. Pedrosa, A. Gudín, A. Maldonado, M.A. Niño, R. Guerrero, D. Cabrera, F.J. Terán, R. Miranda, and J. Camarero, Emergence of the Stoner-Wohlfarth astroid in thin films at dynamic regime, Sci. Rep., 7, 13474 (2017).

E.Céspedes, G. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, C. Navío, M.R. Osorio, R. Guerrero, F.J. Pedrosa, F.J. Mompeán, M. García-Hernández, J.F. Fernández, A. Quesada, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, Inter-grain effects on the magnetism of M-type strontium ferrite, J. Alloys Compd., 692, 280-287 (2017).

2016

F.J. Pedrosa, J. Rial, K.M. Golasinski, M.N. Guzik, A. Quesada, J.F. Fernández, S. Deledda, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, Towards high performance CoFe₂O₄ isotropic nanocrystalline powder for permanent magnet applications, Appl. Phys. Lett., 109, 223105 (2016).

N.Jackson, F.J. Pedrosa, A. Bollero, A. Mathewson, and O.Z. Olszewski, Integration of thick-film permanent magnets for MEMS applications, J. Microelectromech. Syst., 25 (4), 716-724 (2016).

J.M. Colino, M.A. Arranz, A.J. Barbero, A. Bollero, and J. Camarero, Surface magnetization and the role of pattern defects in various types of ripple patterned films, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 49 (13), 135002 (2016).

F.J. Pedrosa, J. Rial, K.M. Golasinski, M. Rodríguez-Osorio, G. Salas, D. Granados, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, Tunable nanocrystalline CoFe₂O₄ isotropic powders obtained by co-precipitation and ultrafast ball milling for permanent magnet applications, RSC Adv., 6, 87282-87287 (2016).

A.Quesada, C. Granados-Miralles, A. López-Ortega, S. Erokhin, E. Lottini, F.J. Pedrosa, A. Bollero, A.M. Aragón, F. Rubio-Marcos, M. Stingaciu, G. Bertoni, C. de Julián Fernández, C. Sangregorio, J.F. Fernández, D. Berkov, and M. Christensen, Energy product enhancement in imperfectly exchange-coupled nanocomposite magnets, Adv. Electron. Mater., 2 (4), 1500365 (2016).

2015

P.Perna, F. Ajejas, D. Maccariello, J.L. Fernández-Cuñado, R. Guerrero, M.A. Niño, A. Bollero, R. Miranda, and J. Camarero, Interfacial exchange-coupling induced chiral symmetry breaking of spin-orbit effects, Phys. Rev. B, 92, 220422 (2015).

F.J. Pedrosa, J. Rial, K.M. Golasinski, J. Camarero, and A. Bollero, CoFe₂O₄ isotropic powders for permanent magnet applications, IEEE EUROCON 2015.

J.L. Cuñado, F.J. Pedrosa, F. Ajejas, A. Bollero, P. Perna, F.J. Terán, R. Miranda, and J. Camarero, Note: Vectorial-magneto optical Kerr effect technique combined with variable temperature and full angular range all in a single setup, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 86 (4), 046109 (2015).

A.Bollero, F.J. Pedrosa, J.L. Cuñado, J. Camarero, M. Seifert, V. Neu, V. Baltz, D. Serantes, O. Chubykalo-Fesenko, R.P. del Real, M. Vázquez, L. Schultz, B. Dieny, and R. Miranda, Extraordinary exchange-bias effects in coupled SmCo₅ (perpendicular)/CoFeB (in-plane) bilayers, 2015 IEEE Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG).

2014

P.Perna, D. Maccarielo, C. Rodrigo, J.L.F. Cuñado, M. Muñoz, J.L. Prieto, M.A. Niño, A. Bollero, J. Camarero, and R. Miranda, Direct experimental determination of the anisotropic magnetoresistive effects, Appl. Phys. Lett., 104, 202407 (2014).

P.Sirvent, E. Berganza, A.M. Aragón, A. Bollero, A. Moure, M. García-Hernández, P. Marín, J.F. Fernández, and A. Quesada, Effective high-energy ball milling in air of Fe₆₅Co₃₅ alloys, J. Appl. Phys., 115, 17B505 (2014).

E.Jiménez, N. Mikuszeit, J.L. Cuñado, P. Perna, F.J. Pedrosa, D. Maccariello, C. Rodrigo, M.A. Niño, A. Bollero, J. Camarero, and R. Miranda, Vectorial Kerr magnetometer for simultaneous and quantitative measurements of the in-plane magnetization components, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 85 (5), 053904 (2014).

 

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3 Oct 2022

The work done at the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications on the development of sustainable permanent magnets with the objective of reduce the EU economy dependency on critical raw materials such as rare-earths is covered by the digital newspaper ‘La Razón’. You can read the full article following this link.

More information in the press release that has been additionally covered by different media:

• Comunidad de Madrid
• Gacetín Madrid, periódico digital de la Ciudad de Madrid
• Política Local
• Noticiero Madrid
• Sur-Madrid
• COPE

13 Sep 2022

Listen to Alberto Bollero on the radio program ‘Pura Ciencia’ in the Cadena Ser talking about the recently approved Roadmap on Sustainable Management of Mineral Raw Materials published by the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. Podcast here.

3 Aug 2022

Listen to the full interview by clicking here.

16 Jun 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero will participate together with other international experts in the Roundtable about Critical and Strategic Raw Materials at the Shift’22 to be held in 10^th – 14^th October in Tenerife (Spain). Permanent magnets and the European technological development depend on these materials. This will be an ideal scenario to cover this urgent issue and discuss on the possibilities that Spain can offer starting from available natural resources (as those present in Canary Islands).

Announcement of the event has been covered by different media:

• La Provincia, Diario de las Palmas.
• El Día, La Opinión de Tenerife.

31 May 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero was interviewed in the radio stations SER Tenerife and SER Las Palmas. He discussed together with Jorge Méndez (Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife) and José Luis Costa Kramer (IMN - CSIC) about research on critical and strategic raw materials, the importance of market diversification, and their role in the technological development and in the ecological transition.

24 May 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero was interviewed by the Spanish international news agency EFE along its participation in the Raw Materials Summit in Berlin, interview that was covered in different media:

• EFE
• Yahoo!finanzas
• El Diaro

8 June 2021

Project PASSENGER - Comunidad de Madrid. Press release and News.

Project PASSENGER is additionally covered in different media:

• Fuenlabrada Noticias
• LGN-Leganés Noticias

25 May 2021

Alberto Bollero (PASSENGER Coordinator) talks about the project PASSENGER in the radio programme "Hoy por Hoy Madrid" from Cadena SER. 

(min. 50:00) https://play.cadenaser.com/audio/ser_madrid_hoyporhoymadrid_20210525_122003_140000/

29 Dec 2019

Melek Villanueva talks about the experience of carrying out a PhD thesis work at the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications:

“Una almeriense en el mundo de la nanociencia y los imanes permanentes”, La Voz de Almería

02 Sep 2019

The industrial collaboration of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications from IMDEA Nanociencia with RAMEM for the development of thermally controlled 3D-printed metal/polymer components gets coverage in the media. Read about the work of Palmero et al. with applicability in the aeronautic and aerospace sectors:

• “An industrial collaboration for thermally controlled 3D-printed metal/polymer components”, STRN Science and Technology Research News 
• “Fabricating thermally controlled 3D-printed metal/polymer components”, Nanowerk

01 Sep 2018

The development of the first rare earth-free permanent magnet filaments based on MnAlC carried out by the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications gets coverage in the September 2018 Bulletin of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics.

24 Jul 2018

The work for developing the first rare earth-free MnAl-based filaments with permanent magnet properties carried out by the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications gets coverage in national and international media:

“First rare earth-free MnAlC permanent magnet filaments”, AZoM

“Fabricado el primer filamento de imán permanente libre de tierras raras”, La Vanguardia

“Se fabrica el primer filamento de imán permanente libre de tierras raras basado en MnAl”, madri+d

“First rare earth-free MnAlC permanent magnet filaments for 3D printing”, Nanowerk

08 May 2018

"Desarrollo sostenible de nuevos imanes permanentes "Made in Europe" con un reducido impacto medioambiental", madrid+d

05 Jul 2017

The activities of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications for the development of alternative permanent magnets to the ones based on rare-earths get coverage in the national media RTVE (from minute 7:20).

28 Jun 2017

"IMDEA Nanociencia proyecta los imanes ecológicos del futuro", InnovaSpain

27 Jun 2017

"Preparando en Europa la próxima generación de imanes permanentes: sentido común, sostenibilidad, innovación y cooperación, ingredientes fundamentales", madrid+d

17 May 2017

"IMDEA Nanociencia y la empresa Höganäs se alían para crear los imanes del futuro", madrid+d

21 Dec 2022

Dr. Ester Palmero explained the research of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications at IMDEA Nanociencia on permanent magnets and 3D-printing to the students of Sciences in her former high school, IES Murgi (El Ejido, Almería).

29 Nov - 1 Dec 2022

The PASSENGER’s 18M meeting took place in Athens (Greece) where the results obtained in the frame of the project where share among the different members of the consortium, together with the establishment of the strategy to be followed along the forthcoming months. Also, the first Review Meeting with the Project Officer and Experts from the European Commission was held to evaluate the status of the project at the present day.

2 – 3 Nov 2022

In person kick-off meeting of the project among BOSCH and the IMDEA Team held at the facilities of IMDEA Nanociencia in Madrid.

15 Nov 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero discussed on the sustainable development of the cities of the future driven by advanced materials as part of the PASSENGER project in the panel ‘Sustainable Future Through Advanced Materials’ in the PUZZLE X event held in Barcelona, Spain.

15 Nov 2022

Dr. Ester Palmero participated and represented PASSENGER project in the roundtable organized by SecREEts in the Final Conference of the project as satellite event in the Raw Materials Week 2022 held this week in Brussels. In the roundtable representatives from different European projects (SUSMAGPRO, INSPIRES, PASSENGER and REEPRODUCE projects) discussed on current and future perspectives in Europe in the field of permanent magnets.

17 Oct 2022

Our partners in PASSENGER project, Martin Dopler from METALPINE and Steffen Jenkel from UNE – Asociación Española de Normalización, visit us for a very enjoyable meeting at IMDEA Nanociencia.

13 Oct 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero participated in the international Roundtable on Critical Raw Materials that took place in the conference SHIFT’22 held in Tenerife (Spain). The panelists discussed about critical raw materials and their importance for our technology, together with trying to address what can be done when our present and future technological development depends on materials (e.g. rare earths) that we do not produce.

30 Sep 2022

The PhD student Alonso Campo participated in the European Researchers' Night in the CaixaForum showing the work done in the Group and particularly about his thesis work about permanent magnets.

23 Sep 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero and Dr. Andrés Martín-Cid visit the facilities of Wilo Group in Dortmund (Germany), one of our partners in the EU H2020 PASSENGER project.

16 Sep 2022

Zaida Curbelo successfully defended her Master thesis entitled ‘Development of compounds based on permanent magnet particles and hydrogel matrix for 3D printing technology’ at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM).

13 Jul 2022

Dr. Ester Palmero is invited to deliver a lecture entitled “Novel routes for developing alternative permanent magnets: from the synthesis of tuned rare earth-free composites to additive manufacturing” in the Magnetic Resonance Laboratory of the Physics Department of the Centro Atómico Bariloche, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, located in Bariloche (Argentina).

12 Jul 2022

The MSc student Zaida Curbelo was awarded the Best Poster award for her poster entitled “Synthesizing MnAlC / hydrogel composites for 3D-printing of alternative permanent magnets” presented at the XXXVIII Biennial of Physics of the Spanish Royal Physics Society (RSEF) held in Murcia (Spain).

29 – 30 Jun 2022

PASSENGER consortium meets in Berlin for its Year One Meeting for discussing the latest developments of the project.

28 Jun 2022

Joint Workshop ‘Magnets Matter!’ organized by PASSENGER project as a satellite event of the EIT Raw Materials Expert Forum held in Berlin (Germany), bringing together panelists from EU projects and industrial partners to discuss about the future and sustainability of the European raw materials sector.

9 Jun 2022

Prof. Alberto Bollero was invited over the Symposium Frontiers in Nanostructured Magnetic Materials in the conference NANO 2022 held in Seville (Spain) to review the nowadays scientific and technological situation of permanent magnet materials and the work performed at the Group on "Nanostructured rare earth-free permanent magnet alternatives to advance towards a sustainable technological horizon in Europe".

8 Jun 2022

Dr. Ester M. Palmero is invited to give a lecture about additive manufacturing technologies for the fabrication of permanent magnets at the Workshop on Magnetism 2022 - From Fundamentals to Applications organized by the Spanish Club of Magnetism (CEMAG) and the Spanish Chapter of the IEEE Magnetics Society in Llanes (Spain).

5 Feb 2022

The book "Modern Permanent Magnets" (Elsevier) is published, edited by John J. Croat and John Ormerod, and includes international experts on the subject (both from academy and industry) authoring the different chapters.

Dr. Alberto Bollero and Dr. Ester M. Palmero coauthored the chapter "Recent advances in hard ferrite magnets", which includes a review of PASSENGER project and its scope. The book is available through Elsevier and also through Amazon.

2 Feb 2022

The work presented by Daniel Casaleiz at the 2022 Joint MMM-Intermag Conference in New Orleans about the route developed in the Group for 3D-printing magnets with arbitrary shapes using recycled magnetic material has received media coverage.

Take a look to the story written by Katherine Wright (Deputy Editor of Physics, the online magazine of the Americal Physical Society) after the interview.

15 Nov 2021

Dr. Alberto Bollero talked about the H2020 PASSENGER project to provide efficient and sustainable industrial alternatives to rare-earth permanent magnets for electromobility applications at the 6^th edition of the Raw Materials Week.

19 Oct 2021

Dr. Alberto Bollero was invited over the IEEE Magnetics Spain-Brasil-Chile Chapters Collaboration Days 2021 to present the recent scientific and technological developments of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications.

31 Aug 2021

Dr. Ester M. Palmero is invited to give a lecture about the synthesis of composite materials with tuned properties for developing permanent magnets by additive manufacturing at the Smart Composite International School at Kaliningrand – Svetlogorsk (Russia), satellite event to the IV International Baltic Conference on Magnetism, IBCM 2021.

24 Aug 2021

Dr. Ester M. Palmero is invited to give a talk about advances in the additive manufacturing of rare earth-free permanent magnets over the 2021 Around-the-Clock Around-the-Globe Magnetics Conference organized by the IEEE Magnetics Society.

25 Jun 2021

Dr. Alberto Bollero is invited to give a seminar entitled “From the Lab to the Fab: Research on rare earth-free permanent magnets to build a sustainable technological horizon” at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil).

9 Jun 2021

Dr. Ester M. Palmero is invited to deliver a talk about the advanced in the fabrication of rare earth-free and hybrid permanent magnets by nanostructuring, synthesis of composites and additive manufacturing at the 26th International Workshop on Rare-Earth and Future Permanent Magnets and their Applications, REPM2021 organized by the University of Delaware (USA).

3 June 2021

Carla Muñoz (PhD student at our group) has received the Young Researcher Award at the 2021 E-MRS Spring Meeting for her presentation of the work on a new development of MnAlC magnets as a rare-earth-free alternative.

11 May 2021

The PASSENGER project (Coordinator: Dr. Alberto Bollero), that will run for four years (2021-2025), has celebrated its kick-off meeting on 11th May.

Read about the project HERE.

4 Feb 2021

Melek Villanueva defends her doctoral thesis entitled “Mn-based magnetic films: from monolayers to microislands” and supervised by Dr. Alberto Bollero and Dr. Cristina Navío.

15 Dec 2020

Dr. Ester Palmero is invited to give a talk about advances in the additive manufacturing of rare earth-free permanent magnets over the CRC / TRR 270 HoMMage Colloquia organized by the Technical University of Darmstadt and University of Duisburg-Essen.

19 Nov 2020

Carla Muñoz was awarded during the 4th Young Researchers in Magnetism Symposium of the annual meeting of CEMAG for the presentation of the work focused on MnAlC as a rare earth-free permanent magnet alternative.

01 Oct 2020

Alonso Campos joins the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications with a doctoral fellowship in the frame of the programme INPhINIT from ”la Caixa” to perform his PhD thesis on the development of novel rare earth-free permanent magnets.

24 Mar 2020

Dr. Alberto Bollero is invited over the Functional Materials Seminar of the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) in San Sebatián (Spain) for giving a talk entitled “Rare-earth free permanent magnet powder and functional applications”.

26 Feb 2020

Dr. Alberto Bollero is invited to give the talk entitled "Mn-based permanent magnets: from thin film micromagnets to bulk magnets obtained by hot-pressing of gas-atomized powder" at the Symposium of Advanced Magnetic Materials for Energy and Power Conversion Applications of the 2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition in San Diego (USA).

25 Oct 2019

Javier Rial defends his doctoral thesis entitled "Isotropic nanocrystalline MnAl(C) permanent magnet powder" and supervised by Dr. Alberto Bollero.

02 - 03 Oct 2019

Kick off meeting the H2020 FET-Open project UWIPOM2, which will seek to develop micro-robotic mechanisms for minimally invasive micro-surgery techniques and in-vivo health treatments. The project is coordinated by the University of Alcalá and counts with IMDEA Nanociencia as a partner, together with Advanced Hall Sensors Ltd. (UK), Politechnika Warszawska (Poland) and Boston Scientific (Ireland). UWIPOM2 Consortium counts with the participation of expert neurosurgeon Dr. Luis Ley Urzáiz and cardiologist Dr. José A. García Lledó.

 

15 Jul 2019

Dr. Ester Palmero was invited over the XXXVII Biennial Meeting of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics (RSEF) in Zaragoza to present the recent developments of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications on 3D-printing technologies for the fabrication of permanent magnets.

21 Jun 2019

Melek Villanueva was awarded during the 10^th International Symposium on Metallic Multilayers - MML 2019 with the Best Poster Award for the poster entitled "High-coercivity MnBi ultra thin films grown on MgO (001)".

07 Jun 2019

Javier Rial has won the "Three Minute Thesis" prize in the Science category, in representation of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

06 Jun 2019

Melek Villanueva and research colleagues have won the IEEE Magnetics Society Summer School Project Award for their project "A non-collinear antiferromagnet for energy reclamation and memory applications".

13 Feb 2019

Alberto Bollero and Ester Palmero were talking about “Experiments in Nanoscience” at the school CPB Ángel León in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid) in the frame of the scientific activities organized for celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

06 Dic 2018

Dr. Alberto Bollero was invited to give an IMW-Seminar at the IFW – Dresden (Germany) entitled “Strategies against rare-earth element criticality used in permanent magnets: substitution, industrial sustainability and novel technological approaches”.

26 Sep 2018

Dr. Alberto Bollero was invited to present the recent developments of the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications on alternative materials to rare-earth elements at the Workshop on Rare-Earth mining and environmental impact in Castilla-La Mancha, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos (UCLM), Ciudad Real. The invited talk was entitled “Current research efforts to replace and recycle rare-earth elements”.

13 Sep 2018

The project “NEXMAG” coordinated by the Group of Permanent Magnets and Applications at IMDEA has been designated “Success Case” by the M.ERA-NET Network.

28 Aug 2018

Dr. Alberto Bollero was invited to give the talk entitled “Rapid-milling applied to isotropic rare earth-free permanent magnet powders: from ferrites to MnAl” at the REPM 2018 in Beijing (China).

03 Jul 2018

Dr. Alberto Bollero and Dr. Ester Palmero were invited to give a lecture on “Permanent Magnets” at the IV Curso del Club Español de Magnetismo “Summer Workshop, Challenges of Basic and Applied Magnetism” (Miraflores de la Sierra, Madrid).

20 Jun 2018

Dr. Ester Palmero was invited to give a talk entitled “Polymerization of rare earth-free permanent magnet particles for advanced 3D printing technology” at the E-MRS Spring Meeting 2018, Strasburg (France).

24 Apr 2018

Dr. Cristina Navío was invited to give a talk entitled “Ferromagnetic manganese based ultra-thin films: structural, spectroscopic and magnetic characterization” at the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Castilla la Mancha, Ciudad Real.

04 Dic 2017

Researchers of the Group of Permanent Magnets visit the factory of Höganäs in Sweden in the frame of the industrial project GAMMA.