In-situ synthesis of nanocrystalline soft magnetic Fe-Ni-Si-B alloy

Fe-based nanocrystalline ribbons (e.g. FINEMET) has been applied widely in electric industry due to its excellent soft magnetic properties. However, their preparation involves annealing at high temperature for the formation of alpha-Fe nanograins, which not only consumes additional energy but results in the embrittlement of the ribbon. In this work, the ductile nanocrystalline ribbons of Fe-Ni-Si-B with good soft magnetic properties have been in-situ prepared just using the melt-spinning method. The nanocrystals have a size less than 45 nm. After the stress relief annealing, the ductility is still available and the magnetic performance is improved. It's worth noting that the industrial grade rather than analytically pure raw materials are used in this work. Therefore, the results have profound implications for academic study and engineering application. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.