Studies of sintered MRE-Fe-B magnets by DyF3 addition or diffusion treatment (MRE = Nd + Y + Dy)

Sintered MRE2(Fe, Co)14B magnets by DyF3 blending or diffusion treatment were investigated. “Base-line” magnets with a thickness of 1.5 mm were coated (painted) with DyF3 powder and heated to promote Dy diffusion at 800–900 °C, i.e., “Diffusion” magnets. For comparison, the magnet alloy powder for making Base-line magnets was blended with 3–5 wt.% DyF3 powder and then made into sintered magnets, i.e., “Blended” magnets. The coercivity and (BH)max of Base-line magnets were 9.7 kOe and 32.7 MGOe, respectively, while the coercivity of Diffusion magnets was increased to 15 kOe and the (BH)max was nearly unchanged at 31.4 MGOe. Blended magnets with 5 wt% DyF3 had a coercivity of 17.8 kOe, but the (BH)max was reduced to 25.4 MGOe, due to a considerable reduction of remanence. The total Dy concentration in the MRE2(Fe, Co)14B Diffusion magnets with a β value of −0.5%/°C was 5.3 wt%, while typical commercial Nd-based Nd2Fe14B magnets require at least 7.5 wt% Dy to achieve the same β. Therefore, the MRE2(Fe, Co)14B Diffusion magnets exhibited better temperature stability.