Researchers develop methods to recover rare earth elements from magnets

The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) is collaborating with TU Bergakademie Freiberg on the NEO-CYCLE project to establish efficient recovery processes for rare earth elements. Neodymium, essential for permanent magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines, currently faces supply chain vulnerabilities as nearly 90 percent is imported from China.

To address this dependency, researchers are testing processes to recycle magnets found in end-of-life electronic hardware. Current recycling rates for these materials remain low in Europe due to the complexity of achieving the high purity levels required for reuse. The new project seeks to close the material loop by extracting neodymium, iron, and boron from hard disk drives.

Two primary methods are being evaluated: solid-state chlorination and electrochemical processing. The chlorination method uses ammonium chloride to convert magnet waste into metal chlorides, while the electrochemical approach uses an electrolyte to separate materials. Sandra Pavón, head of the hydrometallurgical group at Fraunhofer IKTS, noted that the resulting purified metal salts could be repurposed for high-value applications, including pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

The project aims to transition these technologies into industrial use, ultimately curbing reliance on global resource markets and lowering the environmental impact of electronic waste.