Dispersible SmCo5 nanoparticles with huge coercivity.

It is difficult to obtain dispersed particles of SmCo5 by calciothermic reduction because of sintering during the high-temperature reaction. This study presents a new strategy to synthesize dispersible SmCo5 particles by co-precipitating a precursor containing amorphous Sm(OH)3 and coherent nanoscale Co(OH)2 and Ca(OH)2 crystallites. The Ca(OH)2 dehydrates into CaO which forms an isolation shell around the SmCo5 particles that prevents them sintering during the reaction at 860 °C. A magnetization of 90 Am2 kg-1, a remanence ratio of 0.96 and a huge coercivity of 6.6-7.2 T were achieved at room temperature after dissolving the CaO and orienting a dispersion of the particles in epoxy in a 0.8 T external field. Based on its scan-rate dependence in high quasi-static and pulsed magnetic fields, the coercivity mechanism is identified as nucleation and growth of 88 nm3 nucleation volumes in a low-anisotropy surface region about 15 nm thick. The coercivity is the highest yet reported for nanoparticles of any permanent magnet and it opens the prospect of new high-temperature magnet composites.