Holmium is a relatively soft, silvery, fairly corrosion-resistant and malleable metal. Dysprosium and Terbium have traditionally been substituted at levels up to a few percent for some of the Neodymium in Nd2Fe14B compound and although this reduces the remanence, it increases the coercivity and the energy product, and it decreases the loss of performance with increasing temperature. Holmium is slightly less desirable since it has a larger impact on the remanence, but it still has a positive impact on elevated temperature performance. Consequently, Holmium is utilized in Neodymium magnets as a substitute for Dysprosium, contributing to the reduction of costs associated with high-coercivity Neodymium magnets. This substitution partly reduces the costs of high coercivity Neodymium magnets.
Holmium is typically used in the form of Holmium Iron Ho-Fe alloy. That is because rare earth Iron alloys fulfill more appropriate melting point and density with beneficial to enhance yield rate of rare earth elements. Besides, the chemical stability of rare earth Iron alloy surpasses that of pure rare earth metal. Holmium Iron alloy has long served as common raw material of Neodymium magnets. Holmium Iron alloy price trend is basically consistent with the price movement of mainstream rare earth products.
