Coercivity enhancement of sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets by grain boundary diffusion with Pr80-xAlxCu20 alloys

A grain boundary diffusion (GBD) process with Pr_80-xAl_xCu₂₀ (x = 0, 10, 15, 20) low melting point alloys was applied to commercial 42M sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets. The best coercivity enhancement of a diffused magnet was for the Pr₆₅Al₁₅Cu₂₀ GBD magnet, from 16.38 kOe to 22.38 kOe. Microstructural investigations indicated that increase in the Al content in the diffusion source can form a continuous grain boundary (GB) phase, optimizing the microstructure to enhance the coercivity. The coercivity enhancement is mainly due to the formation of a continuous GB phase to separate the main phase grains. Exchange decoupling between the adjacent main phase grains is enhanced after the GBD process. Meanwhile, the introduction of Al can effectively promote the infiltration of Pr into the magnet, which increases the diffusion rate of rare-earth elements within a certain range. This work provides a feasible method to enhance coercivity and reduce the use of rare-earth resources by partial replacement of rare-earth elements with non-rare-earth elements in the diffusion source.     

Coercivity and microstructure of sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets diffused with Pr-Co,Pr-Al,and Pr-Co-Al alloys

The commercial 42 M Nd-Fe-B magnet was treated by grain boundary diffusion(GBD)with Pr₇₀Co₃₀(PC),Pr₇₀Al₃₀(PA)and Pr₇₀Co₁₅Al₁₅(PCA)alloys,respectively.The mechanism of coercivity enhancement in the GBD magnets was investigated.The coercivity was enhanced from 1.63 T to 2.15 T in the PCA GBD magnet,higher than the 1.81 T of the PC GBD magnet and the 2.01 T of the PA GBD magnet.This indicates that the joint addition of Co and Al in the diffusion source can further improve the coercivity.Microstructural investigations show that the coercivity enhancement is mainly attributed to the exchange-decoupling of the GB phases.In the PCA GBD magnet,the wider thin GB phases can be formed and the thin GB phases can still be observed at the diffusion depth of 1500μm due to the combined action of Co and Al.At the same time,the formation of the Pr-rich shell can also be observed,which is helpful for the coercivity enhancement.     

高丰度钇在永磁材料中的应用研究

促进高丰度元素在稀土永磁材料中的应用是推动中国稀土资源平衡利用的重要举措,目前针对高丰度La,Ce磁体的研究已经取得一定的进展,而高丰度Y元素在永磁材料中的研究相对不足.获得稳定的物相结构和理想的微观组织结构是发展低成本高性能稀土永磁材料的关键.本课题组的研究表明:通过小原子半径的Y元素取代,能够稳定形成主相的四方结构...