Production of Nd-Fe Foundry Alloy by Electrolysis in Molten Salts

Nd-Fe-B-based permanent magnets have the highest magnetic characteristics. To improve their quality, one generally applies the technique of solid-phase alloying by materials with high content of neodymium, dysprosium, terbium, i.e. rare-earth metal (REM)-Fe(Co) foundry alloys. The paper presents the results of the study of the manufacturing process of Nd-Fe foundry alloys, with composition being close to eutectic, by electrolysis of neodymium oxides and fluorides from chloride and fluoride melts. It is shown that in the oxide electrolysis a sufficiently high current efficiency (over 98 %) is obtained. This is a promising method of obtaining of rare earth-containing materials.