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The grain boundary phase of Dy-free sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets is modified by using Pr 68 Cu 32 eutectic alloy. The coercivity of the modified magnets reaches 21 kOe, which is the highest value in Dy-free Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets. Microstructural investigations show that a smooth and thick grain boundary layer is formed, and the content of the ferromagnetic elements in the grain boundary layer decreases from 65 at. % to 9 at. %. In addition, the mean grain size (4.5 lm) in the doped sintered magnets is smaller than that (6.5 lm) in the original sintered magnets. The modification in grain boundary and grain size reduces the magnetic interactions among grains and hinders nucleation of reversed magnetic domains, resulting in a coercivity enhancement. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

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The grain boundary diffusion treatment using the low melting point Pr-Cu eutectic alloy was applied to enhance the coercivity of anisotropic die-upset Nd-Fe-B powders. It was found that the room temperature coercivity of the powders increases from 13 kOe to 24 kOe. The thickness of the grain boundary layer was increased and the Fe and Co content in the grain boundary phases was decreased. The modified boundary layers may thus increase the domain wall nucleation field, leading to an enhancement in the coercivity. The diffusion of Pr-Cu alloy prevents the loss of continuity of the Nd-rich grain boundary phase and retains the crystal texture in the initial grains.

The coercivity of Pr2Fe14B/α-Fe magnetic nanomaterial has been drastically improved from 6.8 kOe to 26 kOe by the diffusion of the Pr68Cu32 alloy. Pr68Cu32 alloy reacts with α-Fe to form boundary phases among Pr2Fe14B grains. The boundary phases have weak magnetic properties and have a thickness comparable to the domain wall thickness of Pr2Fe14B phase. So boundary layers are very effective in pinning the motion of domain walls, leading to an increased coercivity. The coercivity of this material at 160 °C is improved from 2.7 kOe to 10 kOe by diffusion treatment.