Injection-Molded Iron-Based Soft Magnetic Materials: Process Regulation, Performance Trade-offs, and Advanced Predictions

The rapid miniaturization of high-frequency electronic components and smart wearable devices imposes stringent demands on iron-based soft magnetic materials, particularly Fe-Si alloys. These materials must achieve complex geometries, high permeability, and ultra-low core loss, yet their traditional manufacturing is severely bottlenecked by the extreme room-temperature brittleness of high-silicon compositions. Consequently, metal injection molding (MIM) and soft magnetic materials technologies have emerged as advanced near-net-shape manufacturing frontiers. This review critically examines the fundamental performance trade-offs-specifically the interplay among densification, insulation integrity, and high-frequency eddy current loss-that currently hinder practical deployment. We systematically evaluate advancements across five core dimensions: binder design and debinding kinetics, high-temperature sintering and impurity elimination, insulation coating for soft magnetic materials, cross-scale structural design, and advanced computational design driven by first-principles calculations and artificial intelligence (AI). By bridging microscopic quantum-mechanical kinetic mechanisms with macroscopic structural performance, this review establishes a holistic framework to accelerate the digital-twin design and predictable manufacturing of next-generation soft magnetic hardware.