Our latest publication on the recycling of Nd-Fe-B magnets was published in Advanced Engineering Materials and awarded as Editors' Choice. We investigated the use of recycled magnets in electromobility applications such as Pedelecs, e-Scooters and Hoverboards with regard to their performance and recyclability. For this, EoL-magnets from different waste streams were recycled, using the hydrogen decrepitation process. After the production of a large number of recycled magnets, these were installed in the demonstrators. The motors with recycled magnets show similar or higher electromotive force compared to motors with primary magnets. While the e-Scooter motor achieves almost the same induced voltage (–0.7%) by using recycled magnets, the Hoverboard motor shows even an increased voltage of 6.7%. The analysis of magnets from different waste streams, as well as considerations of the market, political requirements and sustainability round off the whole study. The study is in collaboration with colleagues from Fraunhofer IWKS, and Fraunhofer IFAM.

Mario Schönfeldt, Konrad Opelt, Mahmudul Hasan, Michael Gröninger, Dennis Jahnke, Jürgen Gassmann, Oliver Gutfleisch,
Functional Recycling and Reuse of Nd–Fe–B Permanent Magnets from Various Waste Streams for a more Sustainable and Resilient Electromobility,
Adv. Eng. Mater. 2025, 2402815.

The open access paper is available here.