High Coercive RE-Fe-B Powders Recycled via HD and HDDR Process from Waste Magnets

In order to fabricate high-coercivity hard magnetic RE-Fe-B powders from the waste bulk magnets, the hydrogen decrepitation (HD) and hydrogenation-disproportionation-desorption-recombination (HDDR) processes were employed to the waste RE-Fe-B magnets. The optimum HD and HDDR conditions for the waste RE-Fe-B magnets were established through the systematic investigation on the effect of HD and HDDR treatment temperature on the magnetic and microstructural properties of final recycled powders. We found that the waste magnets were crushed into the flakes with a uniform size distribution when the HD treatment was carried at 200 degrees C. By applying the HDDR process to the HD treated flakes at 920 degrees C, high coercivity of 11.2 kOe could be achieved in the recycled RE-Fe-B HDDR powders. Based on the results from the microstructural characterization, the underlying reasons for the magnetic and microstructural changes of the recycled powders as a function of the HD and HDDR treatment temperature is discussed in detail.