Structural and magnetic properties of nanostructured Fe50(Co50)–6.5 wt% Si powder prepared by high energy ball milling

This work investigates the effects of 6.5 wt% Si addition and milling times on the structural and magnetic properties of Fe50Co50 powders. For this purpose, at first the elemental Fe and Co powders were milled for 10 h to produce Fe50Co50 alloy and then Si was added and the new product was milled again for different times. The microstructural and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results show that the minimum crystallite size of the as-milled powders (∼12 nm) has been achieved after introducing Si and milled for 8 h (total milling time of 18 h). Also an amount of 188 emu/g has been achieved for Ms. This amount of Ms is higher than most of those which have been already reported for Ms of different Fe–Si systems.

► Fe- 6.5 wt% Si is a well established soft magnetic material. ► Also, equiatomic compositions of Fe and Co offers maximum saturation magnetization and large magnetic permeability. ► This work introduces the nanostructured Fe50(Co50)–6.5 wt% Si for the first time.