Study on magnetic properties of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2−xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) alloys

In the present work, (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2−xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) permanent alloys are prepared by melt-spinning method. The hard magnetic properties of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2−xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) alloys annealed at optimum temperatures have been investigated systematically. Depending on the Nd, Ce concentration, the maximum energy product ((BH)max) and remanence (Br) increase gradually with x in the range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, whereas decrease gradually in the alloys with 0.4 < x ≤ 0.6. It is found that the optimum magnetic properties are obtained at x = 0.4: Hci = 4.9 kOe, Br = 10.1 kG, (BH)max = 13.7 MGOe. Specifically, magnetic field heat treatment below the Curie temperature is applied for (Nd0.8Ce0.2)1.6Fe12Co2B (x = 0.4) annealed ribbons. The magnetic properties Br, (BH)max and squareness are all enhanced after the magnetic field heat treatment. The (BH)max shows a substantial increase from 13.7 MGOe to 16.0 MGOe after the heat treatment at 623 K with a magnetic field of 1 T, which gets 17% improvement compared with that of the sample without a magnetic field heat treatment. We demonstrate that the magnetic field heat treatment plays a certain role in the magnetization reversal behavior and can improve the microstructure of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)1.6Fe12Co2B alloy.