Amorphous-crystalline Ni-Fe powder mixture: Hydrogenation and annealing effects on microstructure and electrical and magnetic properties

Abstract

© 2016 Authors. The hydrogenation of a crystalline Ni-Fe (80 wt.% Ni, 20 wt.% Fe) powder mixture leads to the formation of a mixture of Face Centered Cubic (FCC)-Ni and FCC-Fe phase nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix. The magnetic susceptibility of the nanostructured powder is 2.1 times higher than that of the as-produced crystalline mixture. Heating in the temperature range 420-590 K causes structural relaxation in the hydrogenated powder, resulting in an increase of the magnetic susceptibility and a decrease of the electrical resistivity. During the heating procedure, the reorientation of magnetic domains in nickel and iron takes place in the temperature range 580-650 K and 790-850 K, respectively. In the pressed sample from the powder mixture, the crystallization of the amorphous phase of nickel and its FCC lattice crystalline grain growth occurs in the temperature range 620-873 K causing a decrease in the magnetic susceptibility of the nickel FCC phase and a sudden drop in the electrical resistivity. Prolonged heating of the mixed powders at 873K results in the formation of a Ni-Fe solid solution with higher magnetic susceptibility than the starting mixture.