Effect of cobalt substitution on structure and magnetic properties of Nd 0.4 Zr 0.6 Fe 10–x Co x Si 2 (x = 0–3) alloys and their ribbons
This paper reports the stabilization of the RFe 12 -type based compounds where part of R and Fe are substituted with Zr and Co and Si, respectively, in order to examine whether these rare-earth-lean materials are suitable for applications as permanent magnets. Structural and magnetic characterization of the family of alloys with the general formula Nd 0.4 Zr 0.6 Fe 10–x Co x Si 2 (x = 0–3) and their melt-spun ribbons were carried out using X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The ThMn 12 -type structure is obtained for all samples as the majority phase with a minority α-Fe(CoSi) phase (less than 5 wt%) as it was estimated by XRD for x = 1 and 2. The Curie temperature increases linearly with Co substitution from 561 K for x = 0 to 712 K for x = 3. The saturation magnetization decreases slightly from 130.5 (x = 1) to 129.1 A·m 2 /kg (x = 3), while the anisotropy field is following the same trend.