High performance Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets without critical elements
Scanning electron microscopy, and magnetization measurements reveal that as cast (Nd 1–x Ce x ) 2 Fe 14 B alloys contain significant amounts of α-Fe that can be dramatically reduced by annealing the alloys at 1000 °C for 3 days. The room temperature intrinsic coercivity, Hci, of (Nd 0.8 Ce 0.2 ) 2.2 Fe 14 B melt spun ribbons was found to be 11 kOe, which is ~32 to ~10% higher in comparison to that of Nd 2 Fe 14 B (Hci = 8.3 kOe), and (Nd 0.8 Ce 0.2 ) 2.0 Fe 14 B (Hci = 10 kOe), respectively. The substitution of Co for Fe in (Nd 0.8 Ce 0.2 ) 2 Fe 14–z Co z B significantly increases both TC and the maximum energy product, (BH)max. Our study shows that both Co-containing and Co-free Ce-substituted Nd 2 Fe 14 B alloys have excellent magnetic properties at room temperature and above. As a result, the experimental results also demonstrate the potential of Nd-Ce-Fe-TM-B based alloys as alternative to expensive Dy-containing high performance rare earth magnets.