Effects of Fe3P Addition on Sintering Behaviors and Magnetic Properties of Fe-P Alloys Sintered at Low Temperatures

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate that trace amounts of P addition can activate the sintering of carbonyl powder and influence the magnetic properties of the sintered materials. Fe-x P (x = 0, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 wt.%) samples were fabricated by doping carbonyl powder with different amounts of Fe3P. They were sintered at 1000 °C in argon for 2 h. The sintering of the Fe-0 wt.% P sample was interrupted by the ferrite-austenite transformation at 912 °C due to the low diffusion rate of the austenite. The addition of P can stabilize the ferrite, and suppress the ferrite-austenite transformation. Therefore, all the P-containing samples shrank continuously throughout the whole sintering process, which showed improved sintering densities compared to the P-free sample. However, the sintering density did not increase monotonously with increasing P content. The Fe-1.4 wt.% P and Fe-1.6wt.% P samples easily got oxidized during sintering, and the densification process was thus influenced by the P-containing oxide particles. As a result, the Fe-1.2 wt.% P sample exhibited the highest sintering density (7.664 g/cm3) and the best magnetic properties (coercive force 172 A/m).