In this paper, a new Co10Fe10Mn35Ni35Zn10 high entropy alloy (HEA) is identified as a strong candidate for the single face-centered cubic (FCC) structure screened using the upgraded TCFE2000 thermodynamic CALPHAD database. The Co10Fe10Mn35Ni35Zn10 HEA is fabricated using the mechanical (MA) procedure and pressure-less sintering method. The Co10Fe10Mn35Ni35Zn10 HEA, which consists of elements with a large difference in melting point and atomic size, is successfully fabricated using powder metallurgy techniques. The MA behavior, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the Co10Fe10Mn35Ni35Zn10 HEA are systematically studied to understand the MA behavior and develop advanced techniques for fabricating HEA products. After MA, a single FCC phase is found. After sintering at 900℃, the microstructure has an FCC single phase with an average grain size of 18 μm. Finally, the Co10Fe10Mn35Ni35Zn10 HEA has a compressive yield strength of 302 MPa.
Magnetic properties of nanostructured materials are affected by the microstructures such as grain size (or particle size), internal strain and crystal structure. Thus, it is necessary to study the synthesis of nanostructured materials to make significant improvements in their magnetic properties. In this study, nanostructured Fe-20at.%Co and Fe-50at.%Co alloy powders were prepared by hydrogen reduction from the two oxide powder mixtures, and . Furthermore, the effect of microstructure on the magnetic properties of hydrogen reduced Fe-Co alloy powders was examined using XRD, SEM, TEM, and VSM.
In this study, chemical solution mixing and hydrogen reduction method was used to fabricate nanostructured alloy powders. Fe-Co chloride mixture, FeCl and COCI with 99.9% purity, were reduced in hydrogen atmosphere. Nanostructured Fe-Co alloy powders with a grain size of 50 nm were successfully fabricated. Magnetic properties of fabricated (x=0, 10, 30, 50, 70, 100) alloy powders with the same grain size were measured because size factor can affect magnetic properties. Coercivity of Fe-Co alloy powders were increased with increasing Co contents. Maximum value of coercivity in various Co contented Fe-Co alloy powders with similar grain size was 125 Oe at Fe. Saturation magnetization value at FeCo composition showed maximum value of 219 emu/g and saturation magnetization value decreased with increasing Co contents and minimum value of 155 emu/g was observed at Co.
Conventional Fe-Co alloys are important soft magnetic materials that have been widely used in industry. Compared to its polycrystalline counterpart, the nanostructured materials have showed superior magnetic properties, such as higher permeability and lower coercivity due to the single domain configuration. However, magnetic properties of nanostructured materials are affected in complicated manner by their microstructure such as grain size, internal strain and crystal structure. Thus, studies on synthesis of nanostructured materials with controlled microstructure are necessary for a significant improvement in magnetic properties. In the present work, starting with two powder mixtures of Fe and Co produced by mechanical alloying (MA) and hydrogen reduction process (HRP), differences in the preparation process and in the resulting microstructural characteristics will be described for the nano-sized Fe-Co alloy particles. Moreover, we discuss the effect of the microstructure such as crystal structure and grain size of Fe-Co alloys on the magnetic properties.