Production of Soft Magnetic Materials Fe-Si and Fe-Si-Al from Blends of Red Muds and Several Additives: Resources for Advanced Electrical Devices
Khanna R. Konyukhov Y. Zinoveev D. Li K. Maslennikov N. Burmistrov I. Kargin J. Kravchenko M. Mukherjee P.S.
March 2025Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Sustainability (Switzerland)
2025#17Issue 5
The present study developed a novel approach for transforming red mud (RM) into soft magnetic materials (SMMs) for applications in advanced electrical devices in the form of Fe-Si and Fe-Si-Al alloys. A total of ten blends were prepared based on two RMs, three iron oxide additives (Fe2O3, black and red mill scales), alumina and carbonaceous reductants in a range of proportions. Carbothermic reduction of the blends was carried out in a vertical Tamman resistance furnace at 1600–1650 °C for 30 min in an argon atmosphere; synthetic graphite was used as a reductant. Reaction products were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Significant amounts of Fe-rich metallic droplets/regions of different grain sizes (0.5 to 500 μm) were produced in these studies. The formation of Fe-Si alloys with Si contents from 3.9 to 6.7 wt.% was achieved in 8 out of 10 blends; the optimal levels of Si for SMMs ranged from 3.2 to 6.5 wt.%. There was clear evidence for the formation of Fe-Si-Al (up to 1.8 wt.% Al) alloys in 4 out of 10 blends. In addition to lowering operating challenges associated with RM processing, blending of RMs with iron oxide additives and alumina presents a novel recycling approach for converting RMs into valuable SMMs for possible emerging applications in renewable energy, storage, electrical vehicles and other fields. Along with reducing RM stockpiles across the globe, this approach is expected to improve resource efficiency, mitigating environmental impacts while generating economic benefits.
additives , industrial waste , metal recovery , recycling , red mud , soft magnetic materials
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School of Materials Science and Engineering (Ret.), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, NSW, Australia
Department of Enrichment and Processing of Minerals and Technogenic Raw Materials, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow, 119049, Russian Federation
Laboratory of Complex Ores Metallurgy Problems, A. A. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China
Engineering Centre, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Technical Physics Department, G.N. Gumilyov, Eurasian National University, Astana, 010008, Kazakhstan
Moscow Power Engineering Institute, National Research University, Moscow, 111250, Russian Federation
Independent Researcher, Bhubaneshwar, 751013, India
School of Materials Science and Engineering (Ret.)
Department of Enrichment and Processing of Minerals and Technogenic Raw Materials
Laboratory of Complex Ores Metallurgy Problems
School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering
Engineering Centre
Technical Physics Department
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
Independent Researcher
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