Yujing Zhang

Chemically Inhomogeneous RE-Fe-B Permanent Magnets with High Figure of Merit: Solution to Global Rare Earth Criticality

The global rare earth (RE) criticality, especially for those closely-relied Nd/Pr/Dy/Tb in the 2:14:1-typed permanent magnets (PMs), has triggered tremendous attempts to develop new alternatives. Prospective candidates La/Ce with high abundance, however, cannot provide an equivalent performance due to inferior magnetic properties of (La/Ce)2Fe14B to Nd2Fe14B. Here we report high figure-of-merit La/Ce-rich RE-Fe-B PMs, where La/Ce are inhomogeneously distributed among the 2:14:1 phase. The resultant exchange coupling within an individual grain and magnetostatic interactions across grains ensure much superior performance to the La/Ce homogeneously distributed magnet. Maximum energy product (BH)max of 42.2 MGOe is achieved even with 36 wt. % La-Ce incorporation. The cost performance, (BH)max/cost, has been raised by 27.1% compared to a 48.9 MGOe La/Ce-free commercial magnet. The construction of chemical heterogeneity offers recipes to develop commercial-grade PMs using the less risky La/Ce, and also provides a promising solution to the REs availability constraints.

Manipulating Ce Valence in RE2Fe14B Tetragonal Compounds by La-Ce Co-doping: Resultant Crystallographic and Magnetic Anomaly

Abundant and low-cost Ce has attracted considerable interest as a prospective alternative for those critically relied Nd/Pr/Dy/Tb in the 2:14:1-type permanent magnets. The (Nd, Ce)2Fe14B compound with inferior intrinsic magnetic properties to Nd2Fe14B, however, cannot provide an equivalent magnetic performance. Since Ce valence is sensitive to local steric environment, manipulating it towards the favorable trivalent state provides a way to enhance the magnetic properties. Here we report that such a desirable Ce valence can be induced by La-Ce co-doping into [(Pr, Nd)1−x(La, Ce)x]2.14Fe14B (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) compounds via strip casting. As verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results, Ce valence shifts towards the magnetically favorable Ce3+ state in the composition range of x > 0.3, owing to the co-doping of large radius La3+ into 2:14:1 phase lattice. As a result, both crystallographic and magnetic anomalies are observed in the same vicinity of x = 0.3, above which lattice parameters a and c, and saturation magnetization Ms increase simultaneously. Over the whole doping range, 2:14:1 tetragonal structure forms and keeps stable even at 1250 K. This finding may shed light on obtaining a favorable Ce valence via La-Ce co-doping, thus maintaining the intrinsic magnetic properties of 2:14:1-type permanent magnets.

Mechanical Properties of La–Ce-Substituted Nd–Fe–B Magnets

Influences of La-Ce substitution on the microstructure and mechanical properties of R2Fe14B-type (R: rare earth) permanent magnets have been investigated. The results show that the optimum compressive and bending strengths of 1137.8 and 339.9 MPa, respectively, are achieved at 18 wt.% La-Ce substitution for Pr-Nd. La-Ce substitution is found to enhance the micro-hardness and Youngs modulus of 2:14:1 matrix phase gradually, strengthening the main phase grains. The irregular grain growth together with weakened R-rich intergranular phase in higher La/Ce-containing magnets, however, leads to easier crack propagation, hence deteriorating the mechanical properties. Consequently, R-Fe-B permanent magnet with a proper La-Ce content satisfies the constraints of cost, and magnetic and mechanical properties simultaneously, thereby exhibiting competitive advantages for mass production.

Novel hydrogen decrepitation behaviors of (La, Ce)-Fe-B strips

La and Ce substitution for Nd in the 2:14:1-type sintered magnet is of commercial interest to reduce the material cost and to balance the utilization of rare earth (RE) sources. As hydrogen decrepitation (HD) is widely utilized to prepare the magnetic powders during magnets fabrication, incorporating La and Ce into the Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets, however, may exert complex influences on the decrepitation behavior. In the present work, through a comparative study of the HD behaviors between the (La, Ce)-Fe-B strips and the conventional Nd-Fe-B ones, we find that similar to the Nd-Fe-B system, increasing hydrogen pressures from 2.5 to 5.5 MPa do not break the 2:14:1 tetragonal structure of (La, Ce)-Fe-B strips. The enhanced hydrogen absorption behaviors are observed with increasing pressure, which are still inferior to that of the Nd-Fe-B strips. This should be ascribed to the higher oxygen affinity of La and Ce than that of Nd, leading to the decreased amount of active RE-rich phase and limited hydrogen dif...