W. Q. Liu

Structure and magnetic properties of bulk isotropic and anisotropic Nd2Fe14B∕α-Fe nanocomposite permanent magnets with different α-Fe contents

Chemical coating, hot compaction, and hot deformation techniques have been applied to prepare bulk isotropic and anisotropic Nd2Fe14B∕α-Fe nanocomposite magnets. The effect of α-Fe content on the structure and magnetic properties of the magnets were studied. For the isotropic magnets, the remanence (Br) increases as the α-Fe content increases, while the coercive force (Hci) drops simultaneously. For the anisotropic magnets, the Br rises first, peaking at 2vol% of α-Fe content, then falls as the α-Fe content increases, and Hci drops significantly for all the α-Fe containing anisotropic magnets. Crystal structure analysis shows that only the magnets with no more than 2vol% α-Fe exhibit strong c-axis crystal texture of Nd2Fe14B phase after deformation. Microstructure observation also shows that there are many Nd2Fe14B equiaxial grains even after hot deformation in the magnets with α-Fe more than 2vol%.

Magnetic anisotropy in bulk nanocrystalline SmCo5 permanent magnet prepared by hot deformation

Bulk anisotropic nanocrystalline SmCo5 magnets have been prepared by hot deformation method. The height reduction of the magnets plays a key role in inducing the crystallographic alignment in the magnet. Increase of height reduction to 90% leads to the formation of platelet shape grains perpendicular to the press direction; correspondingly c-axis crystallographic texture and magnetic anisotropy were developed in the deformed magnets. The coercivity of the magnets increases first,and then decreases again with the increase of the height reduction. The magnet with 70% height reduction exhibits a high coercivity over 5 T.

Tb nanoparticles doped Nd–Fe–B sintered permanent magnet with enhanced coercivity

The microstructure and magnetic properties were studied for the sintered Nd–Fe–B permanent magnet doped with terbium (Tb) nanoparticles. Investigation shows that Tb is enriched as Tb2Fe14B and/or (Nd,Tb)2Fe14B phase in the surface region of the Nd2Fe14B matrix grains indicated by the remarkable enhancement in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy field of the magnet. Furthermore, the Tb-rich grain surface region with high crystal anisotropy increases the nucleation field of reverse domains in the demagnetization process. As a result, the magnet doped with a small amount of Tb nanoparticles possesses enhanced coercivity without sacrificing its magnetization.

Structural and magnetic properties of bulk MnBi permanent magnets

Structural and magnetic properties of bulk nanostructural Mn100−xBix (x = 40, 45, 52) permanent magnets prepared by spark plasma sintering technique were studied. The effect of the Mn/Bi ratio on the MnBi low temperature phase (LTP) formation and its magnetic properties were investigated. An increase of the bismuth amount in the magnets leads to better formation of LTP, resulting in the improvement of both magnetization (Ms) and remanence (Mr), but decreasing the coercivity (Hc) of the magnets. At room temperature, Ms increases from 27.87 emu/g for Mn60Bi40 to 45.31 emu/g for Mn48Bi52, whereas Hc decreases from 12 to 7.9 kOe. The microstructure of Mn48Bi52 magnet is composed of fine and uniform grains with an average size of 140 nm as shown in the TEM image. The Mn48Bi52 magnet shows a high Hc of 19 kOe at 423 K, indicating a strong positive temperature coefficient of coercivity for the MnBi magnet.

Crystallographic alignment evolution and magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-B nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling

The microstructure, crystal structure, and magnetic properties were studied for Nd-Fe-B nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted high-energy ball milling (HEBM) with heptane and oleic acid as the milling medium. The microstructure, crystal structure, and magnetic properties of the nanoflakes were examined with scanning electronic microscopy, x ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer, respectively. Effect of ball-milling time on the c-axis crystallographic alignment and coercivity of Nd-Fe-B nanoflakes were systematically investigated. Microstructure observation shows that the Nd-Fe-B nanoflakes have an average thickness of tens of nanometers, an average diameter in the range of 500 ∼ 1000 nm, and an aspect ratio as high as 100. As the ball-milling time increases from 2 h to 12 h, the intensity ratio between (006) and (105) reflection peaks, which indicates the degree of c-axis crystal texture of the Nd2Fe14B phase, drops gradually, indicating that the long time-milling process undermines the ...

Magnetic properties and thermal stability of MnBi/NdFeB hybrid bonded magnets

Magnetic properties and thermal stability were investigated for the MnBi/NdFeB (MnBi = 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 wt.%) bonded hybrid magnets prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. Effect of MnBi content on the magnetic properties of the hybrid magnets was studied. With increasing MnBi content, the coercivity of the MnBi/NdFeB hybrid magnets increases rapidly, while the remanence and maximum energy product drops simultaneously. Thermal stability measurement on MnBi magnet, NdFeB magnet, and the hybrid magnet with 20 wt.% MnBi indicates that both the NdFeB magnet and the MnBi/NdFeB hybrid magnet have a negative temperature coefficient of coercivity, while the MnBi magnet has a positive one. The (BH)max of the MnBi/NdFeB magnet (MnBi = 20 wt.%) is 5.71 MGOe at 423 K, which is much higher than 3.67 MGOe of the NdFeB magnet, indicating a remarkable improvement of thermal stability.

Structure and magnetic properties of bulk anisotropic SmCo5/α-Fe nanocomposite permanent magnets with different α-Fe content

Chemical coating, hot compaction, and hot deformation techniques have been applied to prepare bulk anisotropic SmCo5/α-Fe nanocomposite magnets. The effects of α-Fe content on the structure and magnetic properties of the magnets were studied. With the increase of the α-Fe content, both the saturation magnetization (Ms) and remanence (Mr) of the magnets rise first, peak at 10 vol. % α-Fe content and then fall while the coercivity (Hci) of the magnets drops simultaneously. Crystal structure analysis shows that the magnets exhibit a strong c-axis crystal texture of the SmCo5 phase, which, however, weakens gradually as the α-Fe content increases. Microstructure observation also shows that there are many SmCo5 equiaxial grains even after hot deformation in the magnets with 15 vol. % α-Fe.

Structure and magnetic properties of magnetically isotropic and anisotropic Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets prepared by spark plasma sintering technology

Spark plasma sintering technique had been applied to prepare bulk isotropic and anisotropic nanostructured Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets via hot pressing and subsequent hot deformation process. Influences of processing conditions and deformation height reduction on the structure and magnetic properties of the magnets were investigated. For the hot deformed magnet with 80% height reduction, XRD patterns of the anisotropic magnets show dominant (00l) diffraction peaks indicating evident c-axis crystallographic alignment in the magnet. Under the optimal processing conditions, the anisotropic magnet with 80% height reduction exhibits excellent magnetic properties as remanence (Br) of 1.492 T, coercive force (Hci) of 1004 kA/m, and the maximum energy product [(BH)max] of 400 kJ/m3, which are among the highest reported magnetic properties of nanostructured Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets.

Structure and magnetic properties of ternary Tb-Fe-B nanoparticles and nanoflakes

The structure and magnetic properties were studied for the ternary Tb-Fe-B nanoparticles and nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-aid high energy ball milling and subsequent size-selection. For the nanoparticles, significant room-temperature coercivity up to 10.6 kOe was achieved with the average particle size of 31.4 nm, but it decreases substantially to 400 Oe as the size is down to 8.2 nm. For the nanoflakes, the thickness is in the range of 50-80 nm while the length is about 1.1 μm, and high coercivity of 22.1 kOe and strong magnetic anisotropy were obtained simultaneously, indicating that the nanoflakes possess excellent permanent magnetic properties.

Improvement of Coercivity and Corrosion Resistance of Nd–Fe–B Sintered Magnets with Cu Nano-particles Doping

Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets with a small amount of Cu nano-particles doping have been prepared by conventional sintered method. Effects of Cu content on magnetic properties, corrosion resistance, and oxidation properties of the magnets have been studied. It shows that the coercivity rises gradually, while the remanence decreases simultaneously with increasing Cu doping amount. Microstructure observation reveals that Cu element enriches mainly the Nd-rich phase. Autoclave test results show that the corrosion rate of the magnets decreases with increasing Cu content. After oxidation, the maximum energy product loss of the magnets with 0 and 0.2 wt% Cu nano-particles doping are 6.13% and 0.99%, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that Cu nano-particles doping is a promising way to enhance the coercivity and corrosion resistance of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets.