Vulcan Elements, UNC Team Up to Improve Rare Earth Magnets

Insider Brief

• Vulcan Elements is partnering with the North Carolina Collaboratory and UNC-Chapel Hill to develop higher-performance rare earth magnets for defense and commercial applications.
• Supported by a $600,000 research award, the team will use quantum-mechanical simulations to predict how atomic-level changes affect magnetic properties.
• Vulcan’s factory under construction in Benson, North Carolina, is planned to produce 10,000 metric tons of magnets annually and create 1,000 manufacturing jobs.

Vulcan Elements, an American rare earth magnet manufacturer, today announced a partnership with the North Carolina Collaboratory to advance the development of high-performance rare earth magnets for critical defense and commercial technology applications. 

The collaboration brings together Vulcan Elements and leading scientific expertise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), where research led by chemistry professor Yosuke Kanai, PhD, will develop a novel analytic capability using quantum-mechanical simulations to predict with significant accuracy how changes at the atomic level affect magnetic properties, ultimately setting a new standard for Vulcan’s magnetic performance.