Effect of Ce and La Co-Addition on Microstructure and Magnetic Property of Melt-Spun [Nd1-x(Ce0.5La0.5)x]16Fe78B6 Alloys

The exploration of high-abundance rare-earth (HARE) elements (such as Ce and La) as substitutes for heavy rare-earth elements (such as Nd, Tb, and Dy) is an effective way to promote the balanced development of rare-earth resources. So in this work, the effect of the co-addition of Ce and La on the phase constituent, microstructure, magnetic properties and Curie temperature for the [Nd1-x(Ce0.5La0.5)x]16Fe78B6 (x = 0–0.4 at.%) alloys have been systematically investigated. It is observed that proper co-addition of the Ce and La content contributes to the improvement of the corresponding microstructure and magnetic properties. The optimal magnetic characteristics are acquired in the [Nd1-x(Ce0.5La0.5)x]16Fe78B6 sample with x = 0.2 at.%: Hcj = 11.10 kOe, Br = 6.57 kG, Hk/Hcj = 0.89, and (BH)max = 16.63 MGOe. Meanwhile, the analysis of Henkel plots (δM-H) and microstructure show that the well-crystallized nano-grains with uniform intergranular phase and fine grain size are beneficial to enhance the exchange coupling interaction, which is responsible for the better magnetic performance in the Nd-Ce/La-Fe-B alloys.