6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Phase stability of Ga-Doped MnAl using a Cluster Expansion Approach

8 Jul 2026, 16:20
1h 20m
Great Hall ( University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Poster Session 2

Speaker

Mr Thabang Mokwena (University of Limpopo)

Description

L10 Mn50Al50 is a promising hard magnetic material due to its good magnetic properties such as high magnetic moment and high Curie temperature. It is considered the best candidate for use as a permanent magnet in various applications such as electric cars and wind turbines. However, L10 MnAl has drawbacks such as being brittle and thermodynamically unstable. A cluster expansion has been used to determine the phase stability of MnAl-Ga alloys. The cluster expansion generated 18 new structures on MnAl₁₋ₓGAₓ. The cross-validation score (CVS) was used to confirm the fitting accuracy, and it was found to be reasonable. The ground-state line predicted 4 stable structures because of their negative formation energies. The most stable structure was found to be Mn₂AlGa. All the structures were found to be mechanically stable because their elastic constants satisfy the tetragonal stability criteria. The findings will provide valuable insights into the development of advanced permanent magnets.

Keywords: MnAl₁₋ₓGAₓ alloys, Cluster expansion (CE), Phase stability, Magnetic properties, Ductility

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Author

Mr Thabang Mokwena (University of Limpopo)

Co-authors

Dr Ramogohlo Diale-Boshielo (Mintek) Prof. Hasani Chauke (University of Limpopo)

Presentation materials

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