Effects of post-sinter annealing on microstructure and magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets with Nd–Ga intergranular addition

We investigate the effects of post-sinter annealing on the microstructure and magnetic properties in B-lean Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets with different quantities of Nd–Ga intergranular additions. The magnet with fewer Nd–Ga additions can enhance 0.2 T in coercivity, with its remanences nearly unchanged after annealing. With the further increase of the Nd–Ga addition, the annealing process leads coercivity to increase 0.4 T, accompanied by a slight decrease of remanence. With the Nd–Ga addition further increasing and after annealing, however, the increase of coercivity is basically constant and the change of remanence is reduced. Microstructure observation indicates that the matrix grains are covered by continuous thin grain boundary phase in the magnets with an appropriate Nd–Ga concentration after the annealing process. However, the exceeding Nd–Ga addition brings out notable segregation of grain boundary phase, and prior formation of part RE6 Fe13 Ga phase in the sintered magnet. This prior formation results in a weaker change of remanence after the annealing process.Therefore, the diverse changes of magnetic properties with different Nd–Ga concentrations are based on the respective evolution of grain boundary after the annealing process.     

Effect of annealing temperature on coercivity of Nd–Fe–B magnets with TbFeAl doping by process of hot-pressing

The Nd–Fe–B magnets are pre-sintered and then processed with hot-pressing, and the resulting magnets are called the hot-pressed pretreated(HPP) magnets. The coercivity of the HPP magnets increases as the annealed temperature increases.When the annealing temperature is 900℃, the coercivity of the magnet is only 17.6 kOe(1Oe = 79.5775 A·m~(-1)), but when the annealing temperature rises up to 1060℃, the coercivity of the magnet reaches 23.53 k Oe, which is remarkably increased by 33.7%. The microstructure analysis indicates that the grain surface of the HPP magnet becomes smoother as the annealed temperature increases. The microstructure factor α is changed according to the intrinsic coercivity model formula. The α of the magnet at 900℃ is only 0.578, but it is 0.825 at 1060℃. Microstructural optimization is due mainly to the increase of coercivity of the HPP magnet.     

Progress in recycling of Nd–Fe–B sintered magnet wastes

Significant efforts have been put into the recycling of bulk Nd–Fe–B sintered magnet wastes around the world in the past decade because bulk Nd–Fe–B sintered magnet wastes are valuable secondary rare-earth resources.There are two major facts behind the efforts.First, the waste magnets contain total rare-earth content as high as more than 30 wt.%, which is higher than most natural rare-earth mines.Second, the waste magnets maintain the physical and chemical properties of the original magnets even with deterioration of the properties on surfaces due to corrosion and contamination.In this review,various techniques for recycling bulk Nd–Fe–B sintered magnet wastes, the overall properties of the recycled Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets, and the mass production of recycled magnets from the wastes are reviewed.     

Regulating element distribution to improve magnetic properties of sintered Nd–Fe–B/Tb–Fe–B composite magnets

Nd content was varied in Nd_(13.2-x)Fe_(80.8+x)B_6(x = 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5) to optimize the magnetic properties of sintered Nd–Fe–B/Tb–Fe–B composite magnets, which were prepared by mixing 9 g of Nd–Fe–B with 1 g of Tb_(17)Fe_(75)B_8 powder.In conventional magnets, by reducing Nd content, the coercivity of 10.4 kOe in Nd_(13.2)Fe_(80.8)B_6 decreases to 7.2 kOe in Nd_(12.2)Fe_(81.8)B_6; meanwhile, in Nd–Fe–B/Tb–Fe–B magnets the coercivity does not decrease when reducing Nd content.In the intergranular phase, the Tb content increases owing to the reducing Nd content of the Nd–Fe–B alloy in the sintered composite magnets.Therefore, the excess Tb in Tb_(17)Fe_(75)B_8 enters the intergranular phase, and more Tb atoms can substitute for Nd at the grain boundary of the Nd–Fe–B phase, leading to a more significant increase in coercivity.The remanence increases with reducing Nd content, and the energy product of 39.1 MGOe with a high coercivity of 21.0 kOe is obtained in Nd_(12.2)Fe_(81.8)B_6/Tb_(17)Fe_(75)B_8 magnets.These investigations show that magnetic properties can be further improved by regulating the element distribution in sintered composite magnets.     

Magnetic properties of misch-metal partially substituted Nd–Fe–B magnets sintered by dual alloy method

The misch-metal(MM) partially substituted Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets were fabricated by the dual alloy method,and the crystal structure, microstructure, and magnetic properties were analyzed comprehensively. X-ray diffraction(XRD)reveals that the increasing content of the MM has an inconsiderable effect on the crystallographic alignment of the magnets.Grains of the two main phases are uniformly distributed, and slightly deteriorate on the grain boundary. Due to the diffusion between the adjacent grains, the MM substituted Nd–Fe–B magnets contain three types of components with different Ce/La concentrations. Moreover, the first-order reversal curve(FORC) diagram is introduced to analyze the magnetization reversal process, coercivity mechanism, and distribution of reversal field in magnetic samples. The analysis indicates that there are two major reversal components, corresponding to the two different main phases. The domain nucleation and growth are determined to be the leading mechanism in controlling the magnetization reversal processes of the magnets sintered by the dual alloy method.     

Effects of terbium sulfide addition on magnetic properties,microstructure and thermal stability of sintered Nd-Fe--B magnets

To increase coercivity and thermal stability of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets for high-temperature applications, a novel terbium sulfide powder is added into(Pr_(0.25)Nd_(0.75))_(30.6)Cu_(0.15)Fe_(bal)B_1(wt.%) basic magnets. The effects of the addition of terbium sulfide on magnetic properties, microstructure, and thermal stability of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets are investigated.The experimental results show that by adding 3 wt.% Tb_2S_3, the coercivity of the magnet is remarkably increased by about 54% without a considerable reduction in remanence and maximum energy product. By means of the electron probe microanalyzer(EPMA) technology, it is observed that Tb is mainly present in the outer region of 2:14:1 matrix grains and forms a well-developed Tb-shell phase, resulting in enhancement of HA, which accounts for the coercivity enhancement.Moreover, compared with Tb_2S_3-free magnets, the reversible temperature coefficients of remanence(α) and coercivity(β) and the irreversible flux loss of magnetic flow(hirr) values of Tb_2S_3-added magnets are improved, indicating that the thermal stability of the magnets is also effectively improved.     

Effects of oxidation of DyH_3 in Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets

The effects of oxidation of Dy H3 with respect to dysprosium addition to Nd–Fe–B sintered magnets are examined.Samples sintered with the addition of freshly milled dysprosium hydride, dysprosium hydride exposed to air at room temperature for 15 min and dysprosium hydride exposed to air at 100°C for 3.5 hours are studied from the aspects of magnetic properties, microstructures, and their degradation, respectively. It is found that some oxidized dysprosium is distributed in the Nd-rich phase; hence, the decrease of remanence occurred. The degradation results indicate that preoxidised dysprosium can be a major factor in increasing the corrosion rate. The microstructures and corrosion acceleration test suggested that the oxidation is detrimental to remanence.     

Phase constitution and microstructure of Ce–Fe–B strip-casting alloy

The strip-casting technique plays an important role in fabricating high coercivity sintered magnet. In this paper, we investigate the phase constitution and the microstructure of rapidly solidified Ce-Fe-B alloy fabricated by strip-casting. We find that the Ce2FelgB phase coexists with Fe, Fe2B, and CeFe2 phases in the Ce-Fe-B strips. The eutectic stucture consisting of Fe and Fe2B is encased in Ce2Fe14B grains, which is blocked by the CeFe2 grains at triple junctions, indicating that the microstructure of Ce-Fe-B strip is characteristic of a peritectic solidification. Thermal analysis indicates that the large supercooling of Ce2Fe14B results in the residual Fe and Fe2B. The microstructural optimization in Ce-Fe-B strips without Fe and Fe2B could be achieved by a heat treatment of 1000 ℃.     

Ceramic synthesis of 0.08BiGaO_3–0.90BaTiO_3–0.02LiNbO_3 under high pressure and high temperature

In this paper, the preparation of 0.08BiGaO_3–0.90BaTiO_3–0.02LiNbO_3 is investigated at pressure 3.8 GPa and temperature 1100–1200?C. Experimental results indicate that not only is the sintered rate more effective, but also the sintered temperature is lower under high pressure and high temperature than those of under normal pressure. It is thought that the adscititious pressure plays the key role in this process, which is discussed in detail. The composition and the structure of the as-prepared samples are recorded by XRD patterns. The result shows that the phases of Ba TiO_3, BaBiO_(2.77), and Ba_2Bi_4Ti_5O_(18) with piezoelectric ceramic performance generate in the sintered samples. Furthermore, the surface morphology characteristics of the typical samples are also investigated using a scanning electron microscope. It indicates that the grain size and surface structure of the samples are closely related to the sintering temperature and sintering time. It is hoped that this study can provide a new train of thought for the preparation of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics with excellent performance.     

Magnetic Microstructure of Sintered Nd-Fe-B Magnets Made from Casting Strips

The magnetic microstructures of two Dy-AI substituted sintered Nd-Fe-13 magnets with the different nominal compositions of Nd12.2Vy0.6Fe80.4Al0.7B6 (at.%) (composition-A,C-A) and Nd13.7Dy0.6Fe78.8Al0.7B6.2(at.%)(composition-B,C-13) prepared by strip casting technique have been revealed by using a magnetic force microscope. The magnetic properties of sintered C-B magnets are worse than that of C-A sintered magnets. In particular, the value of density products (BH)max for sintered C-A magnets is about 32% higher than that of C-B magnets, which is reflected by their quite different magnetic microstructures. We believe that for the C-B samples, the inappropriate composition and thus the redundant Nd2Fe17(B) phase of the casting strips make its final magnetic microstructures worse than the C-A, and then deteriorates the performance of the C-B magnets.     

Effective Anisotropy in Magnetically Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe Nanocomposite

Considering different contact situations of grains, we effective anisotropies of magnetically soft α-Fe grains, investigate the effects of exchange-coupling interaction on hard Nd2Fe14B grains and NdaFe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite. An expression of effective anisotropy suitable for different degrees of exchange-coupling between grains is presented. The calculation results show that the exchange-coupling interaction increases the average anisotropy of soft grains and decreases that of hard grains. The effective anisotropy of Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe nanocomposite decreases smoothly with decreasing grain size when the grain size is larger than 20 nm while it decreases dramaticaily with further decrease of the grain size. In order to maintain high coercivity in Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe nanoeomposite, the grain size should not be less than 20nm.     

Influence of misch metal content on microstructure and magnetic properties of R–Fe–B magnets sintered by dual alloy method

MM_(14)Fe_(79.9)B_(6.1)/Nd_(13.5)Fe_(80.5)B_6 magnets were fabricated by dual alloy method(MM, misch metal). Some magnets have two Curie temperatures. Curie temperatures T_(c1)corresponds to the main phase which contains more La Ce, and T_(c1) decreases from 276.5?C to 256.6?C with the content of MM increasing from 30.3 at.% to 50.6 at.%. The variation of Br with the increase of MM indicates the existence of inter-grain exchange coupling in the magnets. When MM/R ≤ 30.3 at.%,the magnetic properties can reach the level of the intrinsic coercivity Hcj≥ 7.11 kOe and the maximum energy product(BH)max≥ 41 MGOe. Compared with Nd, La and Ce are easier to diffuse to the grain boundaries in the sintering process,and this will cause the decrease of H_(cj) Due to the diffusion between the grains, the atomic ratio of La, Ce, Pr, and Nd in each grain is different and the percentage of Nd in all grains is higher than that in misch metal.     

Coercivity mechanism of La–Nd–Fe–B films with Y spacer layer

The effect of the Y spacer layer on the phase composition, coercivity, and magnetization reversal processes of La–Nd–Fe–B films has been investigated. The addition of a 10 nm Y spacer layer increases the coercivity of the film to 1.36 T at 300 K and remains 0.938 T at 380 K. As the thickness of the Y spacer layer increases, Y participates in the formation of the main phase in the film, and further regulates the formation of La–B phases. The results of the first-order reversal curve(FORC) and mic...     

Exact solutions and residual symmetries of the Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur system

The residual symmetries of the Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur(AKNS)equations are obtained by the truncated Painleve′analysis.The residual symmetries for the AKNS equations are proved to be nonlocal and the nonlocal residual symmetries are extended to the local Lie point symmetries of a prolonged AKNS system.The local Lie point symmetries of the prolonged AKNS equations are composed of the residual symmetries and the standard Lie point symmetries,which suggests that the residual symmetry method is a useful complement to the classical Lie group theory.The calculation on the symmetries shows that the enlarged equations are invariant under the scaling transformations,the space–time translations,and the shift translations.Three types of similarity solutions and the reduction equations are demonstrated.Furthermore,several types of exact solutions for the AKNS equations are obtained with the help of the symmetry method and the Bcklund transformations between the AKNS equations and the Schwarzian AKNS equation.     

Electromagnetic wave absorbing properties and hyperfine interactions of Fe–Cu–Nb–Si–B nanocomposites

The Fe–Cu–Nb–Si–B alloy nanocomposite containing two ferromagnetic phases(amorphous phase and nanophase phase) is obtained by properly annealing the as-prepared alloys. High resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) images show the coexistence of these two phases. It is found that Fe–Si nanograins are surrounded by the retained amorphous ferromagnetic phase. M¨ossbauer spectroscopy measurements show that the nanophase is the D03-type Fe–Si phase, which is employed to find the atomic fractions of resonant57 Fe atoms in these two phases. The microwave permittivity and permeability spectra of Fe–Cu–Nb–Si–B nanocomposite are measured in the frequency range of 0.5 GHz–10 GHz. Large relative microwave permeability values are obtained. The results show that the absorber containing the nanocomposite flakes with a volume fraction of 28.59% exhibits good microwave absorption properties. The reflection loss of the absorber is less than-10 dB in a frequency band of 1.93 GHz–3.20 GHz.     

Effects of Parametrization of A Woods–Saxon Potential on Single Particle Orbits in ~(66)Ca

A Woods–Saxon potential is introduced to serve as initial conditions for an iterative solution of the exotic nuclei in relativistic mean field approach. Effects of parametrization of the Woods–Saxon potential on single particle orbits around the Fermi surface are investigated in66Ca. A semi-parabolic curve of orbital radius appears when the width of the central potential changes. The pseduospin splitting is more sensitive to the potential width than to the depth and the diffuseness. The spin-orbit splitting is more sensitive to the potential depth than to the width and the diffuseness.     

Effects of Nb and Mo additions on thermal behavior,microstructure and magnetic property of FeCoZrBGe alloy

Both Nb and Mo additions play a vital role in FeCo-based alloys and it is crucial to understand their roles and contents on thermal behavior,microstructural feature and magnetic property of alloys.Nanocrystalline alloy ribbons Fe40Co40Zr9?yMyB10Ge1(y=0–4;M=Nb,Mo)were prepared by crystallizing the as-quenched amorphous alloys.The effects of Nb and Mo additions on structures and properties of the Fe40Co40Zr9B10Ge1 alloy are investigated systemically and compared.With increasing Nb or Mo content,the primary crystallization temperature,grain size ofα-Fe(Co)phase and coercivity Hc all decrease.Moreover,the effect of Mo addition on thermal behavior,microstructure and magnetic properties of the FeCoZrBGe alloy is greater compared to Nb addition.The gap between primary and secondary crystallization peaks of Mo-containing alloys is wider than that of Nb-containing alloys.Both grain size and Hc of Mo-containing alloys are smaller than those of Nb-containing alloys.For Fe40Co40Zr9B10Ge1 alloy,high Mo addition proportion is better compared to high Nb addition proportion.     

First-Principles Study of Electronic Structure of the Laves Phase ZrFe2

We perform the ab initio calculation for obtaining the density of states and magnetic properties of ZrFe2 Laves phase compound based on the method of augmented plane waves plus local orbital The results indicate that the ferromagnetic state is more stable than the paramagnetic one, but with a slightly larger volume. The 3d - 4d exchange interactions between Fe and Zr electrons lead to the antiparallel coupling for Fe 3d and Zr 4d states, which is responsible for the ferrimagnetic ordering of the compound. The resulting magnetic moment of about 1.98μB for Fe is spatially localized near the Fe site, while around Zr a small but extended negative spin states causes a moment of about -0.44 μB. Moreover, the resulting magnetic moments with the generalized gradient approximation are more consistent with experimental values than that of the local-spin density approximation.     

Physical properties of FePt nanocomposite doped with Ag atoms:First-principles study

L10FePt nanocomposite with high magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy has been extensively investigated in the fields of ultra-high density magnetic recording media. However, the order–disorder transition temperature of the nanocomposite is higher than 600℃, which is a disadvantage for the use of the material due to the sustained growth of FePt grain under the temperature. To address the problem, addition of Ag atoms has been proposed, but the magnetic properties of the doped system are still unclear so far. Here in this paper, we use first-principles method to study the lattice parameters,formation energy, electronic structure, atomic magnetic moment and order–disorder transition temperature of L10FePt with Ag atom doping. The results show that the formation energy of a Ag atom substituting for a Pt site is 1.309 eV, which is lower than that of substituting for an Fe site 1.346 eV. The formation energy of substituting for the two nearest Pt sites is2.560 eV lower than that of substituting for the further sites 2.621 eV, which indicates that Ag dopants tend to segregate L10FePt. The special quasirandom structures(SQSs) for the pure FePt and the FePt doped with two Ag atoms at the stable Pt sites show that the order–disorder transition temperatures are 1377℃ and 600℃, respectively, suggesting that the transition temperature can be reduced with Ag atom, and therefore the FePt grain growth is suppressed. The saturation magnetizations of the pure FePt and the two Ag atoms doped FePt are 1083 emu/cc and 1062 emu/cc, respectively,indicating that the magnetic property of the doped system is almost unchanged.