Effects of grain boundary diffusion of PrCu alloy on microstructure and coercivity of hot deformed(Nd,Ce)-Fe-B magnets

The technology of using high abundance rare earth element Ce in permanent magnets has attracted many concerns.In this work,the magnetic properties and microstructures of hot deformed(Nd_(1-x)Ce_x)_(13.8)Fe_(76.1)Co_4 Ga_(0.5)B_(5.6) magnets and a selective magnet treated with PrCu grain boundary diffusion process(GBDP) were investigated systematically.It is found that Ce is beneficial to improving the plastic deformation ability of NdFeB magnets.The strongest c-axis orientation is achieved in the HD magnets with Ce concentration of x=0.3,resulting in good comprehensive magnetic properties of B_r=13.00 kGs,H_(cj)=10.12 kOe,(BH)_(max)=38.42 MGOe.Based on that,the GBDP was implemented on the magnets with the best orientation using Pr_(68)Cu_(32) ribbons and the magnetic properties of B_r=12.87 kGs,H_(cj)=15.65 kOe,(BH)_(max)=37.48 MGOe were obtained.The results of composition distribution and Curie temperature test of the GBDPed magnets illustrate that Pr diffuses into the(Nd,Ce)_2(Fe,Co)_(14)B grains to substitute Ce,which not only improves the Curie temperature of the grains,but also enhances the magnetic performance of the magnets.Through GBDP,the thermal stability of magnets has also been improved.