Magnetic properties and coercivity mechanism of Sm{sub 1-x}Pr{sub x}Co{sub 5} (x=0-0.6) nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling
Sm{sub 1-x}Pr{sub x}Co{sub 5} (x=0-0.6) nanoflakes with CaCu{sub 5} structure were successfully prepared by surfactant-assisted high-energy ball milling (SAHEBM). The crystal structure and magnetic properties of Sm{sub 1-x}Pr{sub x}Co{sub 5} (x=0-0.6) nanoflakes were studied by X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer. Effects of Pr addition on the structure, magnetic properties and coercivity mechanism of Sm{sub 1-x}Pr{sub x}Co{sub 5} nanoflakes were systematically investigated. XRD results show that all the nanoflakes have a hexagonal CaCu{sub 5}-type (Sm, Pr){sub 1}Co{sub 5} main phase and the (Sm, Pr){sub 2}Co{sub 7} impurity phase, and all of the samples exhibit a strong (00l) texture after magnetic alignment. As the Pr content increases, remanence firstly increases, then slightly reduced, while anisotropy field (H{sub A}) and H{sub ci} of decrease monotonically. Maximum energy product [(BH){sub max}] of the flakes increases first, peaks at 24.4 MGOe with Pr content of x = 0.4, then drops again. Magnetization behavior analysis indicate that the coercivity mechanism is mainly controlled by inhomogeneous domain wall pinning, and the pinning strength weakens with the increased Pr content, suggesting the great influence of H{sub A} on the coercivity of flakes.