Research Status and Prospects of High-performance Magnet Manufacturing from Recycled NdFeB Waste

As a critical functional material in rapidly advancing scientific and technological fields, neodymium-iron-boron(NdFeB) magnets have witnessed continuous expansion of application domains and sustained year-on-year growth in global demand. NdFeB magnets are predominantly employed in permanent magnet motors across diverse industrial and consumer applications. As these motors reach end-of-life, the resulting decommissioned units yield significant quantities of spent magnets—Posing dual challenges of environmental contamination and inefficient utilization of critical rare earth elements. Recycling these urban minerals can mitigate the rare earth resource imbalance, reduce associated environmental burdens, and support the establishment of a circular magnet economy. This review systematically analyzes the technical characteristics of key remanufacturing processes for high-performance NdFeB magnets derived from end-of-life sources, and critically evaluates current technological limitations and emerging research priorities.