No abstract

The effect of Zn addition on the magnetic properties and microstructure of bulk hot-deformed (NdDy)11.5Fe82.5−xNbxB6 (x = 0–2) alloys has been investigated. The remanence (Br) and coercivity (Hci) can be enhanced substantially by the addition of Nb and can be further improved by the combined addition of Nb and Zn. The addition of Nb increases the volume fraction of intergranular phase and promotes more Zn to diffuse into the grain boundary. This grain boundary with changed properties may benefit the c-axis texture formation during hot-deformation. Additionally, the coercivity of alloys with both Nb and Zn increased up to 22% with increasing deformation ratio, which may be due to the further diffusion of Zn into the grain boundary and the enhancement of magnetic decoupling effect between Nd2Fe14B grains.