Effects of powder flowability on the alignment degree and magnetic properties for NdFeB sintermagnets

The magnetic powders for sintered NdFeB magnets have been prepared by using the strip casting (SC), hydrogen decrepitation (HD) and jet milling (JM) techniques. The effects of powder flowability and addition of a lubricant on the alignment degree and the hard magnetic properties of sintered magnets have been studied. The results show that the main factor affecting powder flowability is the aggregation of magnetic particles for powders in a loose state, but it is the friction between the powder particles for powders that are in a compact state. The addition of a lubricant with suitable dose can slightly prevent the congregating of powders, obviously decrease the friction between the powder particles, improve the powder flowability, and increase the alignment degree, remanence and energy product density of sintered magnets. Mixing a suitable dose of lubricant and adopting rubber isostatic pressing (RIP) with a pulse magnetic field, we have succeeded in producing the sintered NdFeB magnet with high hard magnetic properties of B_r=14.57 KG, _jH_c=14.43 KOe, (BH)_max=51.3 MGOe.     

Study of high-coercivity sintered NdFeB magnets

Magnetic powders for sintered NdFeB magnets have been prepared by using an advanced processing method including strip casting, hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling and rubber isotropic press. The effects of Dy, Ga and Co addition on the microstructure and magnetic properties of sintered magnets have been investigated. By adopting a suitable component ratio and adjusting proper technological parameters, we have prepared high-coercivity sintered NdFeB magnets with hard magnetic properties of _jH_c=25.6 kOe, B_r=13.2 kG and (BH)_max=39.9 MGOe. The temperature coefficient of coercivity of the magnets (between 20 and 150 °C) is –0.53%/°C. The magnetic properties at high temperature satisfy the needs of permanent magnet motors.     

Fabrication of NdFeB microstructures using a silicon molding technique for NdFeB/Ta multilayered films and NdFeB magnetic powder

The silicon molding technique is described for patterning of NdFeB/Ta multilayered magnetic films and NdFeB magnetic powder at the micron scale. Silicon trenches are seamlessly filled by 12-μm-thick NdFeB/Ta multilayered magnetic films with a magnetic retentivity of 1.3 T. The topography image and magnetic field distribution image are measured using an atomic force microscope and a magnetic force microscope, respectively. Using a silicon molding technique complemented by a lift-off process, NdFeB magnetic powder is utilized to fabricate magnetic microstructures. Silicon trenches as narrow as 20 μm are filled by a mixture of magnetic powder and wax powder. The B-H hysteresis loop of the patterned magnetic powder is characterized using a vibrating sample magnetometer, which shows a magnetic retentivity of approximately 0.37 T.     

2:17-type SmCo magnets prepared by powder injection molding using a water-based binder

2:17-type SmCo permanent magnets by powder injection molding using a water-based binder have been studied. The water-based binder is methylcellulose solution, which consists of deionized water and methylcellulose. When the solution concentration is 0.5 wt%, the carbon content of the sintered magnets is below 0.1 wt% and the magnets have better magnetic properties. The magnetic properties and density of the sintered magnets can be increased through pre-sintering in vacuum (10⁻³ Pa) at 1200 °C. However, the Sm content of the magnets loses obviously in pre-sintering for a long period. The appropriate pre-sintering duration is 20–40 min. The magnetic properties of the magnets are: Br=0.97 T, H_cj=871 kA/m, BH_max=157 kJ/m³. The structure of the magnet consists of the matrix phases (2:17 phases) and the precipitate phases (1:5 phases).     

A preparation method and effects of Al–Cr coating on NdFeB sintered magnets

A 50 μm Al–Cr coating on NdFeB sintered magnets was prepared through dipping in solution, shaking dry and heating at 300 °C. The morphology and composition of the Al–Cr coating were investigated with scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance of NdFeB sintered magnets with and without the Al–Cr coating was analyzed by normal salt spray, polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The magnetic properties were measured with a hysteresis loop tracer. The results show that the Al–Cr coating forms an overlapping structure and Al flakes lie nearly parallel to the substrate, which improves the anticorrosion and increases normal salt spray test from 10 to 100 h. The corrosion potential of NdFeB sintered magnets with and without the Al–Cr coating moves positively from −0.67 to −0.48 V, which is in accordance with Nyquist and Bode plots. The Al–Cr coating has little influence on the magnetic properties of the NdFeB sintered magnets.     

Production and corrosion resistance of NdFeBZr magnets with an improved response to thermal variations during sintering

This study describes an attempt to produce NdFeB magnets that are insensitive to the sintering temperature. It was found that addition of Zr to NdFeB magnets significantly augmented the thermal stability of this magnetic material during sintering at high temperature even at industrial scale. The best sintered magnets were produced by jet-milling the powder (to achieve an average 3.4 μm particle size), and then aligned, pressed and sintered under argon at 1100 °C for 3 h followed by appropriate heat treatment. The magnetic properties of the resulting magnets were: (BH)_m=403.8 kJ m⁻³ (±4.7 kJ m⁻³), B_r=1430 mT (±9 mT) and _iH_c=907 kA m⁻¹ (±12 kA m⁻¹). Large grain growth, in excess of 100 μm in the Zr-free magnets, was observed during sintering at 1100 °C. This did not occur in the presence of Zr. These observations imply that the sensitivity of this class of magnets to high sintering temperatures is greatly reduced by Zr addition. Corrosion resistance of NdFeB was therefore significantly improved by the addition of small amounts of Zr.     

Nd composition dependence of microstructure and magnetic properties for gradient sputtered NdFeB films

NdFeB films with Nd compositions varied from 13.34 to 24.30 at% were deposited by DC gradient sputtering using targets Nd_12.5Fe_71.5B₁₆ and Nd. The hard magnetic properties, grain growth direction and magnetic domain structures were dramatically influenced by Nd composition. The samples with intermediate Nd concentrations exhibited optimal magnetic properties and microstructures, such as large squareness ratio over 0.9, large energy product up to 174 kJ/m³, and vertical domain structure. However, the samples with higher and lower Nd compositions showed almost isotropic loops. (0 0 l) as main X-ray diffraction peaks in the optimal Nd composition region indicated most of Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains with c-axis perpendicular to the film plane, while NdFeB grains in other region are almost random growth. The good magnetic properties can be attributed to the vertical growth of Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains.     

Application of citrate-stabilized gold-coated ferric oxide composite nanoparticles for biological separations

Gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized with size ranging from 15 to 40 nm using sodium citrates as the reducing agent. Oxidized magnetites (Fe₃O₄) fabricated by co-precipitation of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ in strong alkaline solution were used as magnetic cores. The structures of gold (Au) shell and magnetic core (Au–Fe) were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum. Results from high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR XRD) show that the Au–Fe oxide nanoparticles have a face-centered cubic shape with the crystalline faces of {1 1 1}. The Au-coated magnetic nanoparticles exhibited a surface plasmon resonance peak at 528 nm. The nanoparticles are well dispersed in distilled water. A 3000 G permanent magnet was successfully used for the separation of the functionalized nanoparticles. Magnetic properties of the nanoparticles were determined by magnetic force microscope (MFM) in nanometric resolution and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Magnetic separation of biological molecules using Au-coated magnetic oxide composite nanoparticles was examined after attachment of protein immunoglobulin G (IgG) through electrostatic interactions. Using this method, separation was achieved with a maximum yield of 35% at an IgG concentration of 400 ng/ml.     

Influence of milling time on the structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of mechanically alloyed Ni58Fe12Zr10Hf10B10 nanostructured/amorphous powders

This paper investigates structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of amorphous/nanocrystalline Ni₅₈Fe₁₂Zr₁₀Hf₁₀B₁₀ powders prepared by high energy milling. Ball milling of Ni, Fe, Zr, Hf and B leads to alloying of the element powders at 120 h. The results show that at 190 h the amorphous content is at the highest level and the grain size is about 2 nm. The magnetic measurements reveal that the coercivity and the saturation magnetization reach about 20 Oe and 30 emu/g at 190 h and become approximately 5 Oe and 40 emu/g after a suitable heat treatment, respectively.     

Effects of calcining temperature and heating rate on properties of high-permeability NiCuZn ferrites

The effects of calcining temperature and heating rate during sintering on densification and magnetic properties of high-permeability NiCuZn ferrites were investigated. It was confirmed that increasing calcining temperature lead to increase of the molding density (the pressed density of samples that have not been sintered), both molding density and activity of the calcined powders determined the sintering density (the density of samples after sintering) of the samples. With the calcining temperature of 1060 °C, the sintering density reached a peak. The initial permeability also peaked with the calcining temperature of 1060 °C, which could be attributed to the highest sintering density and relatively big grain size. Quality factor peaked with the calcining temperature of 1020 °C, which could be attributed to the biggest grain size. Calcining temperature had no distinct connection with Curie temperature, and it had a slight effect on the saturation magnetism (B_s) due to varieties of the sintering density. Further studies showed that heating rate had a pronounced effect on initial permeability and quality factor, which could be attributed to a variety in the grain size. The critical heating rate value was 2 °C/min in order to obtain high-performance NiCuZn ferrites with both high initial permeability and high quality factor.     

Evaluation of magnetic force distribution on a pair of superconducting bulk magnets

We study the construction of superconducting permanent magnets by RE123 bulk materials and the investigation of these industrial applications such as a magnetic separation. A bulk magnet can generate strong magnetic fields exceeding 2 T, which is the limit of ordinary iron-cored electromagnets, in a compact device with a low running cost. A magnetic field distribution of the bulk magnet is a cone shape, and it contributes to an increase of magnetic force which is proportional to the product of a magnetic field and its gradient. It is important to evaluate magnetic force when the application of the bulk magnet is discussed. In this paper, two Gd123 bulk materials of 65 mm in diameter were magnetized using a pair of superconducting bulk magnet system and three-axis components of magnetic flux density (B_x,⋅B_y, and B_z) in an open space between the magnetic poles were scanned with pitch of 2 mm in each direction. From these measured data, the axial and radial components of magnetic force factor, B_z⋅dB_z/dz and B_r⋅dB_r/dr, were calculated. At 10 mm gap, the B_z⋅dB_z/dz value reached 180.6 T²/m for a field of 2.33 T, which is comparable to B_z = 6.76 T for a common 10 T–100 mm∅ superconducting magnet.     

An optimized magnet for magnetic refrigeration

A magnet designed for use in a magnetic refrigeration device is presented. The magnet is designed by applying two general schemes for improving a magnet design to a concentric Halbach cylinder magnet design and dimensioning and segmenting this design in an optimum way followed by the construction of the actual magnet. The final design generates a peak value of 1.24 T, an average flux density of 0.9 T in a volume of 2 L using only 7.3 L of magnet, and has an average low flux density of 0.08 T also in a 2 L volume. The working point of all the permanent magnet blocks in the design is very close to the maximum energy density. The final design is characterized in terms of a performance parameter, and it is shown that it is one of the best performing magnet designs published for magnetic refrigeration.     

Micro-patterning of NdFeB and SmCo magnet films for integration into micro-electro-mechanical-systems

The integration of high-performance RE-TM (NdFeB and SmCo) hard magnetic films into micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) requires their patterning at the micron scale. In this paper we report on the applicability of standard micro-fabrication steps (film deposition onto topographically patterned substrates, wet etching and planarization) to the patterning of 5-8 μm thick RE-TM films. While NdFeB comprehensively fills micron-scaled trenches in patterned substrates, SmCo deposits are characterized by poor filling of the trench corners, which poses a problem for further processing by planarization. The magnetic hysteresis loops of both the NdFeB and SmCo patterned films are comparable to those of non-patterned films prepared under the same deposition/annealing conditions. A micron-scaled multipole magnetic field pattern is directly produced by the unidirectional magnetization of the patterned films. NdFeB and SmCo show similar behavior when wet etched in an amorphous state: etch rates of approximately 1.25 μm/min and vertical side walls which may be attributed to a large lateral over-etch of typically 20 μm. Chemical-mechanical-planarization (CMP) produced material removal rates of 0.5-3 μm/min for amorphous NdFeB. Ar ion etching of such films followed by the deposition of a Ta layer prior to film crystallization prevented degradation in magnetic properties compared to non-patterned films.     

Magnetic and structural properties of iron phosphate-phenolic soft magnetic composites

This work focuses on the effect of phosphate modification on the magnetic and surface properties of iron-phenolic soft magnetic composite materials. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, EDX analysis, distribution maps, X-ray diffraction pattern and density measurements show that the particles surface layer contains a thin layer of nanocrystalline/amorphous phosphate with high coverage of powders surface. Magnetic measurements show that phosphating treatment decreases the loss factor, imaginary part of permeability, increases the electrical resistivity and operating frequencies by decreasing the effective particle size. The operating frequency increases from 200 kHz for uncoated-powders samples to 1 MHz for phosphated-powders samples at optimum concentration. Phosphated iron powders that are covered by 0.7 wt% of phenolic resin exhibits lower magnetic loss and higher frequency stability. The minimum loss factor and maximum permeability at each frequency can be obtained for 0.01 g/ml orthophosphoric acid concentration in comparison with other concentrations including 0.005 and 0.04 g/ml.     

Electrodeposition of amorphous Ni-P coatings onto Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet substrates

Decorative and protective Ni-P amorphous coatings were electroplated onto NdFeB permanent magnet from an ortho-phosphorous acid contained bath. The influences of the main electroplating technological parameters including current density, bath pH, bath temperature and H₃PO₃ on the structure and chemical composition of Ni-P coatings were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques in conjunction with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning transmission electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDX). The optimized amorphous Ni-P coated NdFeB can stand for ca. 180 h against neutral 3.0 wt.% NaCl salt spray without any pitting corrosion. Meanwhile, the results also showed that large phosphorous content is the precondition for Ni-P coatings to possess the amorphous structure, but too much high phosphorous content can damage the amorphous structure due to the separation of superfluous P from Ni₂P/Ni₃P and the resultant formation of multi-phase coatings (such as Ni₂P-P).     

Atom probe study on the bulk nanocomposite SmCo/Fe permanent magnet produced by ball-milling and warm compaction

The microstructure and compositions of the bulk nanocomposite SmCo/Fe permanent magnet were studied using transmission electron microscopy and 3-dimensional atom probe techniques. The excellent magnetic properties were related to the uniform nanocomposite structure with nanometer α-Fe particles uniformly distributed in the SmCo phase matrix. The α-Fe phase contained ∼26 at% Co, and the SmCo phase contained ∼19 at% Fe, confirming that the interdiffusion of Fe and Co atoms between the two phases occurred. The formation of the α-Fe(Co) phase explained why the saturation magnetization of the nanocomposite permanent magnet was higher than that expected from the original pure α-Fe and SmCo₅ powders, which enhanced further the maximum energy product of the nanocomposite permanent magnet.     

Microwave absorption properties of composite powders with low density

The composites of barium ferrite coated on hollow ceramic microspheres were prepared using sol-gel technique. The crystal structure, morphology and microwave absorption properties of composite powders with different weight ratio of microspheres were studied with XRD, EDS, FESEM and vector network analyzer. The results show that the microwave absorption properties of composite powders are greatly improved. The maximum microwave loss of composite powders reaches 31 dB with an amount of 50 wt.% microspheres, and its density is only about 1.80 g/cm³. The effect of hollow ceramic microspheres on the microwave absorption property is also discussed.     

Structure and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline cobalt ferrite powders synthesized using organic acid precursor method

Nanocrystalline octahedra of cobalt ferrite CoFe₂O₄ powders were synthesized using the organic acid precursor route. The effect of the calcination temperature, Fe³⁺/Co²⁺ molar ratio, calcination time and type of organic acid (oxalic, benzoic and tartaric acids) on the formation, crystallite size, microstructure and magnetic properties was studied systematically. The Fe³⁺/Co²⁺ molar ratio was varied from 2 to 1.739 while the annealing temperature was controlled from 400 to 1000 °C for various periods from 0.5 to 2 h. The resulting powders were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD results indicate that a well crystallized, single spinel cobalt ferrite phase was formed for the precursors annealed at 600-800 °C for 2 h, using oxalic and tartaric acids as precursors for Fe³⁺/Co²⁺ molar ratio 1.818. The crystallite size of as-formed powders was in the range of 38.0-92.6 nm at different operating conditions. The calcination temperature and Fe³⁺/Co²⁺ molar ratio have a significant effect on the microstructure of the produced cobalt ferrite. The microstructure of the produced powders was found to be octahedra-shaped. The crystalline, pure cobalt ferrite powders with magnetic properties having a maximum saturation magnetization (76.1 emu/g) was achieved for the single phase at Fe³⁺/Co²⁺ molar ratio 1.818 and annealing temperature of 600 °C for 2 h using tartaric acid precursor.     

Figures of merit of magnetostrictive single crystal iron-gallium alloys for actuator and sensor applications

Energy density, magnetomechanical coupling factor and a dimensionless sensing gage factor of 〈1 0 0〉 oriented single crystal iron-gallium alloys with 16, 17.5, 19, 24.7 and 29 at% gallium were studied as functions of stress and magnetic field. To estimate these quantities, the samples were characterized under different quasi-static stress and magnetic field conditions. The experimental behavior was modeled using an energy-based non-linear approach. Both the experimental data and the model simulations were used to calculate material parameters such as magnetic permeability, piezo-magnetic strain coefficient (d₃₃), inverse piezo-magnetic coefficient (stress sensitivity, d*₃₃) and Young's modulus in the material. These quantities were used to obtain energy density, magnetomechanical coupling factor and sensing gage factor as functions of magnetomechanical conditions. Maximum energy density of around 3 kJ/m³, magnetomechanical coupling factor higher than 0.75 and sensing gage factor on the order of 10³ were calculated.     

Effects of external magnetic field on biodistribution of nanoparticles: A histological study

This study investigates the effect of external magnetic fields on the biodistribution of nanoparticles (NP). A NdFeB magnet of 2.4 kG was externally applied over the left femoral artery or right kidney. The 250 nm dextran-coated Fe₃O₄ NP was injected via tail vein in healthy rats, and organs were taken 1 or 24 h later. Prussian blue stain revealed that NP were more rapidly retained in the liver and spleen than in the lungs. NP aggregation observed in the kidney and femoral artery after application of external magnets was time dependent. Hollow organs such as the intestine, colon, and urinary bladder retained little NP.