Recently published

Recently 1:12 magnets of Sm-(Fe,V) have shown promising coercivities and the potential for alternative rare-earth-lean permanent magnets. However, to enable practical applications, alloys with exquisite intrinsic properties need to be transformed into bulk magnets with extrinsic properties, i.e. coercivity and remanence, by optimizing the microstructure.

In this collaborative international research effort, we investigated the effects of partial substitution of Cu, Mo and Ti for V in the magnets prepared by hot compaction and hot deformation of mechanically milled powders. The Sm-Fe-(V,Cu) magnet showed the best performance with μ₀H_c=0.96 T, μ₀M_r=0.49 T, (BH)_max=42 kJm⁻³ and T_C=362°C. Atom probe tomography of this magnet revealed that an addition of a small amount of Cu not only improved the magnetic properties but also hindered the grain growth during hot deformation. Micromagnetic simulations reveals that the presence of the intergranular phase reduces the number of grains that switch simultaneously.