Enhancement of anisotropy energy of SmCo5 by ceasing the coupling at 2c sites in the crystal lattice with Cu substitution

Abstract SmCo 5 and SmCo 5−x Cu x magnetic particles were produced by co-precipitation followed by reduction diffusion. HRTEM confirmed the Cu substitution in the SmCo 5 lattice. Non-magnetic Cu was substituted at “2c” site in the SmCo 5 crystal lattice and effectively stopped the coupling in its surroundings. This decoupling effect decreased magnetic moment from SmCo 5 (12.86 μ B ) to SmCo 4 Cu (10.58 μ B ) and SmCo 3 Cu 2 (7.79 μ B ) and enhanced anisotropy energy from SmCo 5 (10.87 Mega erg/cm 3 ) to SmCo 4 Cu (14.05 Mega erg/cm 3 ) and SmCo 3 Cu 2 (14.78 Mega erg/cm 3 ). Enhancement of the anisotropy energy increased the coercivity as its values for SmCo 5 , SmCo 4 Cu and SmCo 3 Cu 2 were recorded as 4.5, 5.97 and 6.99 kOe respectively. Being six times cheaper as compared to Co, substituted Cu reduced the price of SmCo 3 Cu 2 up to 2%. Extra 15% Co was added which not only enhanced the M r value but also reduced the 5% of the total cost because of additional weight added to the SmCo 3 Cu 2 . Method reported in this work is most energy efficient method on the synthesis of Sm–Co–Cu ternary alloys until now.