The microstructure and magnetic properties of anisotropic polycrystalline Nd2Fe14B nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted cryomilling

A new method for fabricating rare-earth-transition metal nanoflakes and nanoparticles, surfactant-assisted cryomilling (SACM), was developed. The effects of milling temperature on the particle size, microstructure and magnetic performance of Nd2Fe14B nanoflakes were investigated systematically. Compared with Nd2Fe14B nanoflakes prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling (SABM) at room temperature, the samples prepared by SACM showed more intriguing features such as smaller particle sizes, larger microstrain, smaller grain size and higher coercivity, which were ascribed to a higher defect concentration generated in the nanoflakes. The optimal coercivity of the samples prepared by SACM was about 50% higher than that of the samples milled at room temperature. It is demonstrated that SACM is an effective way to prepare rare-earth-transition metal nanoflakes with higher coercivity and smaller particle size. These findings are of importance for research on sintered magnets and high-performance nanocomposite magnets.