Effect of Process Control Agents on the FeSiB Powder Amorphisation by Wet Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

Result of research concerning the influence of milling conditions on the amorphisation of the Fe75Si20B5 (at.%) alloy is presented. Amorphous powder of Fe75Si20B5 (at.%) was prepared by dry and wet mechanical alloying (MA) route starting from a mixture of Fe, Si and B elemental powders. The mixture was wet/dry milled up to 50 hours. Benzene, oleic acid and ethanol were used as process control agents (PCA) in order to investigate the influence of their chemical composition on the powder amorphisation. The evolution of the powder crystalline structure, thermal stability and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG) as well as magnetic measurements versus temperature and field. It is proved that the chemical composition of the PCA (especially the carbon content) plays an important role in the amorphisation process induced by wet MA.