Grain refinement and coercivity enhancement of sintered Nd–Fe–B alloys by doping eutectic alloy (Nd0.75Pr0.25)70Cu30.

ABSTRACT A significant enhancement in the coercivity and grain refinement was revealed for the spark plasma sintered NdFeB magnets by doping eutectic alloy (Nd0.75Pr0.25)70Cu30 powders. The commercially available NdFeB powders were mixed with (Nd0.75Pr0.25)70Cu30 powders (0, 2 and 5 wt.%) and then consolidated by spark plasma sintering at 700°C under 50 MPa. Microstructure analysis shows that the addition of (Nd0.75Pr0.25)70Cu30 alloy reduces the formation of coarse grain zone and decreases the average Nd2Fe14B grain size by intergranular phase modification. The RE-rich phase containing Nd, Pr at the Nd2Fe14B grain boundary caused the magnetic isolation effect. Hence, the coercivity increased from 18.3 kOe for un-doped NdFeB to 20.3 and 21.6 kOe with doping content of 2 and 5 wt.%, respectively. This study provides an economic way to fabricate sintered NdFeB magnets with enhanced coercivity and homogeneous nanostructure.