Microstructural and Magnetic Properties of Nanostructured Fe65Co35 Powders Prepared by Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

Nanostructured Fe65Co35 alloy powders were fabricated by mechanical alloying in an attritor mill with different milling times. The milling process carried out in speed of 350 rpm, with 20:1 ball to powder weight ratio and under argon protective atmosphere. A continuous cooling system applied to avoid increasing temperature during the milling. The effect of milling time on structural and magnetic properties investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and vibration sample magnetometer. According to the obtained results, nanostructured Fe65Co35 solid solution powders resulted with an average particle size of 400 nm and crystallite size of 6.8 nm by milling for 20 hours. With increasing the milling time, the lattice parameter decreased and the lattice strain increased for Fe65Co35 powders. The maximum saturation magnetization with 1311 emu/cc value and the minimum coercivity with 22 Oe value occurs after milling for 15 hours.