In this study, we fabricated Nd2Fe14B hard magnetic powders with various sizes via spray drying combined with reduction-diffusion process. Spray drying is widely used to produce nearly spherical particles that are relatively homogeneous. Thus, the precursor particles were prepared by spray drying using the aqueous solution containing Nd salts, Fe salts and boric acid with the target stoichiometric composition of Nd2Fe14B. The mean particle sizes of the spray-dried powders are in the range from one to seven micrometer, which are adjusted by controlling the concentra- tions of precursor solutions. After debinding the as-prepared precursor particles, ball milling was also conducted to con- trol the particle sizes of Nd-Fe-B oxide powders. The resulting particles with different sizes were subjected to subsequent treatments including hydrogen reduction, Ca reduction and washing for CaO removal. The size effect of Nd-Fe-B oxide particles on the formation of Nd2Fe14B phase and magnetic properties was investigated.

In the present study, we systematically investigated the effect of Mn addition on nitrogenation behavior and magnetic properties of Sm-Fe powders produced by reduction-diffusion process. Alloy powders with only single phase were successfully produced by the reduction-diffusion process. The coercivity of powder rapidly increased during nitrogenation and reached the maximum of 637 Oe after 16 hours. After further nitrogenation, it decreased. In contrast, the coercivity of powder gradually increased during nitrogenation for 24 hours. The coercivity of powder was higher than that of powder at the same condition of nitrogenation. It was considered that the Mn addition facilitates the nitrogenation of powder and enhances the coercivity.