Textured resin-bonded Sm(Co,Fe,Cu)5 nanostructured magnets exploiting magnetic field and surfactant-assisted milling

Sm(Co,Fe,Cu)5 nanopowders were prepared by magnetic field and surfactant-assisted ball milling technique. Nanopowders thus obtained with this technique exhibited interesting characteristics such as, flake-like morphology, reduction in particle size and anisotropy. Besides, magnetic field-induced alignment of the powder particles during epoxy curing was strongly evidenced in the SEM and XRD analysis; which in turn resulted in textured magnets. Significantly, higher coercivity, Hc of 0.77 T and remanence ratio, Mr/Ms of 0.81 were achieved for the textured resin-bonded Sm(Co,Fe,Cu)5 magnets processed with the field/surfactant-assisted process and these values are superior than those of the magnets processed with the conventional milling (Hc = 0.30 T and Mr/Ms = 0.65).