Effect of soft magnetic phase addition on the microstructure and properties of SmCo5/FeCo anisotropic nanocomposite powders

•Anisotropic SmCo5@FeCo nanocomposites were obtained by surfactant assisted chemical coating.•A novel microstructure consisting of a dense coating of FeCo nanoparticles with an average size of 15 nm when 10 wt% FeCo was added.•A high energy product (BH)max of 25.7 MGOe together a high Hc of 16.9 kOe had been obtained in SmCo5@FeCo nanocomposites with 10 wt% FeCo addition.