A comparative study of NdY-Fe-B magnet and NdCe-Fe-B magnet

Low cost and high abundance rare earth elements Y and Ce have attracted tremendous interests of the industrial and scientific societies for fabricating the highly cost-performance efficient rare earth permanent magnets.However,the effect of separate replacement of Nd by Y or Ce on the performances of NdFeB-type magnet under the same atomic ratio and preparation conditions is still unclear.In this work,we systematically investigated the magnetic properties,thermal stabilities and service performances of(Nd_(0.8)Y_(0.2))_(13.80)Fe_(bal)Al_(0.24)Cu_(0.1)B_(6.04)(atomic fraction,denoted as 20 Y)and(Nd_(0.8)Ce_(0.2))_(13.80)Fe_(bal)Al_(0.24)Cu_(0.1)B_(6.04)(atomic fraction,denoted as 20 Ce)magnets.The results demonstrate that theμ_(0)M_(r),μ_(0)H_(c)and(BH)_(max)of 20 Y magnet are respectively 1.325 T,1.173 T and 343.467 kJ/m^(3),which are comprehensively higher than those of 20 Ce magnet(μ_(0)M_(r)=1.310 T,μ_(0)H_(c)=0.948 T,(BH)_(max)=321.105 kJ/m^(3)).Moreover,the 20 Y magnet has higher thermal stability compared with 20 Ce magnet which is favorable for the magnetic performances at elevated temperatures.The investigation of micro structure and elemental distribution indicates that the excellent magnetic performance s of NdY-Fe-B magnet can be attributed not only to the preferable intrinsic properties4πM_(s),H_(s)and T_(c)of Y_(2)Fe_(14)B,but also to the in-situ co re-shell structure of the 2:14:1 matrix phase grain with Yrich core and Nd-rich shell,along with the thicker grain boundary layer between the adjacent matrix phase grains in NdY-Fe-B magnet.Furthermore,the 20 Y magnet exhibits better mechanical property and higher corrosion resistance than 20 Ce magnet,which are helpful for prolonging the service life of the magnet in practical application.