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The hunt for a viable renewable energy to replace oil or a
healthy alternative to the dreaded sugar may dominate global
headlines, but the story of rare earths is a juicy one that
deserves to be told. This periodic table group of elements
received their somewhat undeserving moniker due to their
tendency to disperse themselves in inconvenient traces
throughout the Earth’s crust. Rare earths are – in fact –
relatively abundant, but that doesn’t mean their use is
straightforward.
Most of the problem with reliance on rare earths lies in China’s
Posted on July 4, 2015 by Emma Brown
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1 of 6 9/22/2015 10:15 AM

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Radiometer (ASTER) image of the Moutain Pass rare
earth open cast mine in California
Now holding 95% of the world’s supply, China has spent the
past 5 years trying rather successfully to drive prices
skyward. In 2012, a consortium of countries led by the United
States, including Canada, lodged an official complaint with the
World Trade Organization against the increasing export duties
and decreasing quotas appearing in China’s rare earths
industry. China claimed that the measures were necessary for
conservation and minimizing mining pollution, but ultimately the
WTO ruled in favour of the US and gave China a deadline for
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that can supply the same magnetic properties has become a
major driver in science funding around the world.
The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) highlights the
rising prices of rare earths in its aim to help fast-track
alternative materials. The Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical
Technologies (REACT) program in the United States is also
one of the resultant funding bodies.
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University in the US,
with support from REACT, believe they have found a viable,
rare earth-free magnetic material. Ahmed El-Gendy, a former
postdoctoral associate at VCU, led the research into cobalt
iron carbide (CoFe C) synthesis. “I measured the same
sample after 2 years, it still had the same magnetic properties,
same corrosivity, same everything,” said El-Gendy
commenting on results published in Applied Physics Letters at
the end of May.
With the last of China’s illegal trade practices due to be
phased out by the time this goes to press, El-Gendy is still
confident his material would be able to compete in a calmer
market. “Rare earths are not stable with air, they can be easily
oxidized so you cannot use them outdoors. They are not easy
2
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Imperial College
are also a possibility. “If you bind specific drugs to individual
nanoparticles and put a big permanent magnet at a certain
point, then you can get all the drugs to go to one place in the
body rather than being randomly distributed everywhere,” he
said.
With a flood of important applications waiting intently, time will
tell if the WTO’s intervention has allowed space in the market
for rare earth alternatives. In the meantime, VCU plans to
move forward on commercializing its novel compound, moving
us one step closer to a happy ending.
Emma Brown is studying for an MSc in Science
Communication
Images: Rare Earth Elements by Terence Wright; Mountain
Pass Mine Wallpaper by Stuart Rankin; Cobalt nanoparticles
by victorpuntes (Flickr, Creative Commons)
Citation: Ahmed A. El-Gendy, A.A. et al. (2015) Experimental
evidence for the formation of CoFe2C phase with colossal
magnetocrystalline-anisotropy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 213109;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4921789
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