Technology page · data to 2026-10-15

Mn–Al and Mn–Al–C magnet patents

If your team works on this technology, the risk is building next to a competitor's claim you have not read yet, often published only in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.

Free: the latest weekly issue on this and the other rare-earth-free magnet technologies, one plain-English entry per invention.

τ-phase MnAl, usually stabilised with carbon, is a light rare-earth-free magnet built from cheap elements. Filings cover composition, phase stabilisation, mechanical milling and warm extrusion.

In our base

New families by year of first publication

12021*5202232023020244202542026*

* 2021 counts publications from 09-27, when our base starts.

* 2026 counts publications up to 10-15 only; new publications reach our sources weeks late, Chinese ones three weeks or more.

YearFamilies
20211
20225
20233
20254
2026 (to 10-15)4

Offices

A family counts once in each office where a member has published.

OfficeFamilies
CN9
US8
WO4
EP3
KR2
DE1
RO1
TW1

Applicants with two or more families

Harmonised names from the source record; subsidiaries are not merged.

ApplicantFamilies
AGC Inc4
TDK Corp3
Univ Hangzhou Dianzi2

Most recent publications

The newest publication in each of the 8 most recently active families, as recorded. Families our analysts have reviewed carry a note.

Method for producing magnetic particles, magnetic particles, and permanent magnet using same

US-20260290662-A1 · published 2026-09-24 · AGC Inc [JP] · offices: CN, KR, US, WO

AGC claims a route to manganese-aluminium (MnAl) magnet particles. Manganese powder of 50 µm or less is mixed with an aluminium source, a halide activator and a fine anti-sintering agent. The mix is then heated to 1,000-1,235 °C so the aluminium diffuses into the manganese. The family already has WO, CN and KR publications, so AGC is pursuing MnAl in several offices. MnAl uses no rare earths and no cobalt. Its main obstacle is making fine particles without losing the magnetic phase, and this claim addresses that step.

Method for producing sintered magnet containing manganese-aluminum alloy, and sintered magnet containing manganese-aluminum alloy

WO-2026141299-A1 · published 2026-07-02 · AGC Inc · offices: WO

Method for preparation of severely plastically deformed particulates for manganese-aluminum-based alloy permanent magnets

US-20260081068-A1 · published 2026-03-19 · Univ Pittsburgh Commonwealth Sys Higher Education · offices: US

US-20260081068-A1 (University of Pittsburgh) claims a route to MnAl-based magnet powder: epsilon-phase MnAl feedstock is end-milled into severely plastically deformed particles, which are then heat-treated to the magnetic tau phase, and optionally mixed with a binder and formed by injection moulding, compression bonding, calendering or extrusion. It is a bonded-magnet production route for a rare-earth-free material, with the deformation step intended to set up the microstructure before the phase change. The same university has a US application on MnBi motor design, which suggests a materials-to-motor programme.

System zur Herstellung von ε-Phasen-MnAl- und Co-Doppelschicht-Dünnfilmen

DE-202026100723-U1 · published 2026-03-12 · Deka Nishanta [IN]; Mallik Bappi [IN]; Rajbanshi Dhananjoy [IN]; Srivastava Sandeep Kumar [IN] · offices: DE

Mn-Al permanent magnet alloy and preparation method thereof

CN-121306702-A · published 2026-01-09 · Univ Guilin Electronic Tech · offices: CN

CN-121306702-A (Guilin University of Electronic Technology) claims an Mn-Al permanent magnet alloy doped with small amounts of neodymium and/or gadolinium, which sit at the grain boundaries of the magnetic tau phase as a dispersed phase, pin domain-wall motion and refine the grains. The abstract reports a large coercivity gain while keeping magnetisation, tau-phase stability and Curie temperature, and a simpler process suited to industrial production. Low coercivity is the main limit of MnAl, so this goes to the core problem, at the cost of a small rare-earth addition.

Process for preparing rare-earth-free permanent magnet based on MnAlC

RO-139327-A2 · published 2025-12-30 · Institutul Nat De Cercetare Dezvoltare Pentru Fizica Materialelor Incdfm Bucuresti [RO] · offices: RO

Magnetic particles containing manganese-aluminum alloy, and method for producing such magnetic particles

WO-2025253950-A1 · published 2025-12-11 · AGC Inc · offices: WO

High-coercivity rare-earth-free MnAlM permanent magnet alloy and preparation method thereof

CN-114156030-B · published 2025-08-01 · Univ Hangzhou Dianzi · offices: CN

Get the current weekly issue

A competitor's filing on this technology is easy to miss when it is published only in Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Our weekly briefing covers new filings in this and the other rare-earth-free magnet technologies, with a plain-English note on each family. Your address is used to send the sample, to follow up at most twice about it (one click stops that) and, if you ask, to set up a trial or subscription. No list sale.

See the privacy notice for how the address is handled.

Free monthly summary

Want to know, once a month, whether anyone new is patenting in your field? Get the month's new patent families in these technologies, with the counts on this page, at no cost. One email a month with the new patent families in rare-earth-free magnets and motors, sent only after you confirm your address. One click unsubscribes. No list sale.

Other technologies

Iron nitride (Fe16N2) · Mn–Bi · Advanced ferrites · L10 FeNi / tetrataenite · RE-free motor topologies · August 2026 landscape

Publications come from the EPO Open Patent Services and Google Patents Public Data, matched against a published CPC and keyword scope and grouped by DOCDB patent family. New publications reach our sources several weeks after they are published (Chinese ones three weeks or more), so the latest weeks are incomplete.