Influence of Nd Substitution on the Phase Constitution in (Zr,Ce)FeSi Alloys with the ThMn Structure.

Iron-based compounds with a ThMn-type structure have the potential to bridge the gap between ferrites and high performance NdFeB magnets. From the point of view of possible applications, the main advantage is their composition, with about 10 wt.% less rare earth elements in comparison with the 2:14:1 phase. On the other hand, the main issue delaying the development of Fe-rich alloys with a ThMn-type structure is their structural stability. Therefore, various synthesis methods and stabilizing elements have been proposed to stabilize the structure. In this work, the influence of increasing Nd substitution on the phase constitution of ZrNdCeFeSi (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3) alloys was analyzed. X-ray diffraction and Fe Mössbauer spectrometry were used as the main methods to derive the stability range and destabilization routes of the 1:12 structure. For the arc-melted samples, an increase in the lattice parameters of the ThMn-type structure was observed with the simultaneous growth of bcc-(Fe,Si) content with increasing Nd substitution. After isothermal annealing, the ThMn-type structure (and the coexisting bcc-(Fe,Si)) were stable over the whole composition range. While the formation of a 1:12 phase was totally suppressed in the as-cast state for x = 0.3, further heat treatment resulted in the growth of about 45% of the ThMn-type phase. The results confirmed that the stability range of ThMn-type structure in the Nd-containing alloys was well improved by other substitutions and the heat treatment, which in turn, is also needed to homogenize the ThMn-type phase. After further characterization of the magnetic properties and optimization of microstructure, such hard/soft magnetic composites can show their potential by exploiting the exchange spring mechanism.