Development of crystal texture in R-lean RFeCoNbB (R = Nd, Pr) alloy during melt spinning processes

The formation of crystal texture of R2Fe14B nanocrystals in R–Fe–B (R = rare earth) alloys with low R content (<11.8 at.%) is the most critical issue for the development of anisotropic nanocomposite magnets. In the present study, we succeeded in yielding a strong crystal texture for (Nd,Pr)2Fe14B nanocrystals during the melt spinning processes of Nd3.6Pr5.4Fe80Co3NbB7 by effectively employing the seeding effect of α-Fe nanocrystal texture. The (Nd,Pr)2Fe14B nanocrystals produced from the R-lean alloy at a wheel speed of 18 m/s show a strong (0 0 l) texture parallel to the ribbon plane, which yields a high remanence Mr = 0.78Ms and a large energy product (BH)max = 25.2 MGOe for the α-Fe/(Nd,Pr)2Fe14B nanocomposite ribbons. The present study provides a promising approach to prepare anisotropic nanocomposite magnets from R-lean alloys.