AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE FINELY CRYSTALLINE POWDER OF RARE EARTH-TRANSITION METAL-ALLOYS

Small particulate alloys, Sm2Fe7, Nd2Fe7, NdFe10Mo2 and NbFe11Ti, have been obtained by reduction-diffusion reactions from nanoscale precurs ors. The nanoscale oxide precursors, such as rare earth and transition metal oxides, were produced by sol-gel methods. After a preliminary H -2 reduction treatment, the precursors were reduced by CaH2 under mild conditions. The obtained alloys are crystalline powders with small pa rticle sizes and uniform size distributions.