Effect of Nb doping on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Nd-Ce-Fe-B alloy

With the intention to reduce the Nd content in Nd2Fe14B-type alloys, 20 at.% Ce and 0.5 at.% Nb substituting Nd and Fe in the Nd13Fe82B5 alloys were previously employed to improve successfully the coercivity and the thermal stability without the energy product reduction. In this study, a light increase of the remnant polarization Jr was observed in (Nd0.8Ce0.2)13Fe82−xNbxB5 alloy at x = 0.5 and x = 1.0, resulting from the increasing amount of α-Fe phase. The optimum magnetic properties obtained with 0.5 at.% Nb doping are Hcj = 13.1 kOe, Jr = 0.79 T, (BH)max = 13.3 MGOe, respectively. Besides, the coercivity Hcj and maximum energy product (BH)max for the melt-spun ribbons with 0.5 at.% Nb addition are higher than those of the Nb-free ribbons in the temperature range of 300-450 K. Both the variations of Curie temperature Tc and a increase of lattice constants a and c of the hard magnetic phase with Nb addition imply that some of Nb atoms may directly enter into the hard magnetic phase, occupying the Fe sites. With the analysis on the demagnetization curve, Henkel curve and the observation of transmission electron microscope (TEM), the results indicate that a small amount of Nb can enhance the coercivity and exchange coupling though improving the microstructure of alloys.