Rare earth Nd-Fe-B, a widely used magnet composition, was synthesized in a shape of powders using gas atomization, a rapid solidification based process. The microstructure and properties were investigated in accordance with solidification rate and densification. Detailed microstructural characterization was performed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the structural properties were measured by using X-ray diffraction. Iron in the form of α-Fe phase was observed in powder of about 30 μm. It was expected that fraction of Nd2Fe14B phase increased rapidly with decrease in powder size, on the other hand that of α-Fe phase was decreased. Nd-rich phase diffused from grain boundary to particle boundary after hot deformation due to capillary action. The coercivity of the alloy decreased with increase in powder size. After hot deformation, Nd2Fe14B phase tend to align to c-axis.

In this study, precisely controlled large scale gas atomization process was applied to produce spherical and uniform shaped high entropy alloy powder. The gas atomization process was carried out to fabricate CoCrFeNiMn alloy, which was studied for high ductility and mechanical properties at low temperatures. It was confirmed that the mass scale, single phase, equiatomic, and high purity spherical high entropy alloy powder was produced by gas atomization process. The powder was sintered by spark plasma sintering process with various sintering conditions, and mechanical properties were characterized. Through this research, we have developed a mass production process of high quality and spherical high entropy alloy powder, and it is expected to expand applications of this high entropy alloy into fields such as powder injection molding and 3D printing for complex shaped components.

To form the fine micro-structures, the Pr17Fe78B5 magnet powders were produced in the optimized gas atomization conditions and it was investigated that the formation of the textures, microstructures, and the changes in the magnetic properties with increasing the deformation temperatures and rolling directions. Due to the rapid cooling system than the casting process, the homogenous microstructures were composed of the Pr-rich and Pr2Fe14B without any oxides and α-Fe and enables grain refinement. The pore ratios were 2.87, 1.42, and 0.22% at the deformation temperatures of 600, 700, 800°C, respectively in the rolled samples to align the c-axis which is the magnetic easy axis. Because Pr-rich phase cannot flow into the pore with a liquid state at low temperature, the improvement of pore densification was gradually observed with increasing deformation temperature. To confirm the magnetic decoupling effects of Pr2Fe14B phases by Pr-rich phases, the magnetic properties were investigated in rolled samples produced at the deformation temperature of 800°C. Although the remanent field is slightly decreased by 30%, the coercivity fields increased by about 2 times than that previous casted ingot. It is suggested that the gas atomization method can be suitable for fabricating grain refined and pure PrFeB magnets, and the plastic deformation conditions and rolling directions are a critical role to manipulate microstructure and magnetic properties.

With the recent advancement in technology for titanium metal powder injection molding and additive manufacturing, high yield and good flowability powder production is needed. In this study, titanium powder was produced through vacuum induction melting gas atomization with a cold crucible, which can yield various alloy compositions without the need for material pretreatment. The gas behavior in the injection section was simulated according to the orifice protrusion length for effective powder production, and powder was prepared based on the simulation results. The gas distribution changes with the orifice protrusion length, which changes the location of the recirculation zone and production yield of the powder. The produced powders had a spherical morphology, and the content of impurities (N, O) changed with the injected-gas purity.

In this study, we demonstrate a facile and cost-effective way to synthesize Nd-Fe-B of various shapes such as powders, rods and fibers using electrospinning, heat-treatment and washing procedures. Initially Nd-Fe-B fibers were fabricated using electrospinning. The as-spun Nd-Fe-B fibers had diameters ranging 489 to 630 nm depending on the PVP concentration in reaction solutions. The different morphologies of the Nd2Fe14B magnetic materials were related to the difference in thickness of the as-spun fibers. The relationships between the as-spun fiber thickness, the final morphology, and magnetic properties were briefly elucidated. The intrinsic coercivity of Nd2Fe14B changed with the change in morphology from powder (3908 Oe) to fiber (4622 Oe). This work demonstrates the effect of the Nd-Fe-B magnetic properties with morphology and can be extended to the experimental design of other magnetic materials.

Liquid metal extraction (LME) process results in 100% neodymium (Nd) extraction but the highest extraction efficiency reported for Dysprosium (Dy) so far is 74%. Oxidation of Dy is the major limiting factor for incomplete Dy extraction. In order to enhance the extraction efficiency and to further investigate the limiting factors for incomplete extraction, experiments were carried out on six different particle sizes of under 200 µm, 200-300 µm, 300-700 µm, 700-1000 µm, 1000-2000 µm and over 2000 µm at 900℃ with magnesium-to-magnet scrap ratio of 15:1 for 6, 24 and 48 hours, respectively. This research identified Dy2Fe17 in addition to Dy2O3 phase to be responsible for incomplete extraction. The relationship between Dy2Fe17 and Dy2O3 phase was investigated, and the overall extraction efficiency of Dy was enhanced to 97%.

Recently, since the demand of rare earth permanent magnet for high temperature applications such as an electric motor has increased, dysprosium (Dy), a heavy rare earth element, is becoming important due to severe bias in its production. To fulfill the increasing need of Dy, recycling offers as a promising alternative. In recycling of rare earths, Hydro-metallurgical extraction method is mainly used however it has adverse environmental effects. Liquid metal extraction on the other hand, is an eco-friendly and simple method as far as the reduction of rare earth metal oxide is concerned. Therefore, liquid metal extraction was studied in this research as an alternative to the hydro-metallurgical recycling method. Magnesium (Mg) is selected as solvent metal because it doesn’t form intermetallic compounds with Fe, B and has a low melting and low boiling point. Extraction behavior of Dy in (Nd,Dy)-Fe-B magnet is observed and effect of Mg ratio on extraction of Dy is confirmed.

NdFeB anisotropic sintered permanent magnets are typically fabricated by strip casting or melt spinning. In this study, the plastic deformability of an NdFeB alloy was investigated to study the possibility of fabricating anisotropic sintered magnets using gas atomized powders. The results show that the stoichiometric composition Nd12Fe82B6 softens at high temperatures. The aspect ratio and orientation factor of Nd12Fe82B6 billets after plastic deformation were found to increase with increasing plastic deformation temperature, particularly above 800℃. This confirms that softening at high temperatures can lead to plastic deformation of Nd2Fe14B hard magnetic phases.

Liquid Metal Extraction process using molten Mg was carried out to obtain Nd-Mg alloys from Nd based permanent magnets at 900oC for 24 h. with a magnet to magnesium mass ratio of 1:10. Nd was successfully extracted from magnet into Mg resulting in ~4 wt.% Nd-Mg alloy. Nd was recovered from the obtained Nd-Mg alloys based on the difference in their vapor pressures using vacuum distillation. Vacuum distillation experiments were carried out at 800oC under vacuum of 2.67 Pa at various times for the recovery of high purity Nd. Nd having a purity of more than 99% was recovered at distillation time of 120 min and above. The phase transformations of the Nd-Mg alloy during the process, from Mg12Nd to α-Nd, were confirmed as per the phase diagram at different distillation times. Pure Nd was recovered as a result of two step recycling process; Liquid Metal Extraction followed by Vacuum Distillation.