Anisotropic (Sm,Pr)1Co5 based nanoflakes fabricated by high-energy ball milling in polar milling medium

• Textured rare-earth nanoflakes were produced by milling in polar medium.
• The microstructures and magnetic properties of flakes are time depended.
• Flakes with decreased particle size and increased coercivity were obtained.
• Flakes with 40 nm thickness was fined to in-plane sizes of 0.2–2 μm.
• Flakes with 40 nm thickness exhibit high coercivity of 12.2 kOe.

Anisotropic (Sm,Pr)1Co5 based nanoflakes with a low aspect ratio, small in-plane size, pronounced (0 0 l) out-of-plane texture, and high room temperature coercivity were fabricated by high-energy ball milling with ethanol and polyvinylpyrrolidone as polar milling medium. The effect of milling time on the crystal microstructure, morphology, and magnetic properties of milled flakes were investigated. With increasing milling time from 2 to 40 h, the thickness and in-plane size of milled flakes reduce monotonously, while a low aspect ratio of 5–50 and a strong (0 0 l) out-of-plane texture are preserved. The coercivity of milled flakes increases gradually even when the flake thickness reaches a nanometer scale. After 40 h milling, the textured nanocrystalline flakes have a thickness of 40 nm, a small in-plane size of 0.2–2 μm, and a high coercivity of 12.2 kOe, which are advantageous for the preparation of textured exchange-spring magnets and eddy-current-resistant magnets.