Ahmad Awadallah

Effects of Heat Treatment on the Phase Evolution, Structural, and Magnetic Properties of Mo-Zn Doped M-Type Hexaferrites

In this article we report on the structural and magnetic properties of BaFe12-4xMoxZn3xO19 hexaferrites with Mo-Zn substitution for Fe ions. The starting materials were commensurate with the BaM stoichiometry, and the Mo:Zn ratio was 1:3. The powder precursors were prepared by high energy ball milling, and subsequently sintered at temperatures from 1100 to 1300° C. The structural analyses indicated that all samples sintered at 1100° C were dominated by a major M-type hexaferrite phase. The relative abundance of the BaMoO4 and Zn-spinel secondary phases increased with increasing the concentration of the substituents, resulting in a decrease of the saturation magnetization from about 67 emu/g (for x = 0.0) to 55 emu/g (for x = 0.3). The coercivity also decreased from 3275 Oe (for x = 0.0) to 900 Oe (for x = 0.3), demonstrating the ability to tune the coercivity to the range useful for magnetic recording by the substitution process. The saturation magnetization improved significantly with sintering at T > 1100° C, and the coercivity decreased significantly, signaling the transformation of the samples to soft magnetic materials. These magnetic changes were due to the high-temperature reaction of the spinel phase with the BaM phase to produce the W-type hexaferrite phase on the one hand, and to the growth of the particles on the other hand. The magnetic phases were further investigated using Mössbauer spectroscopy and thermomagnetic measurements. Our study indicated that the sample with x = 0.2 has the highest saturation magnetization (74 emu/g at sintering temperature of 1300° C) and a tunable coercivity between 2100 Oe and 450 Oe.

Modification of the Magnetic Properties of Co2Y Hexaferrites by Divalent and Trivalent Metal Substitutions

The present study is concerned with the fabrication and characterization of Me2Y substituted hexaferrites, Ba2Me2Fe12-xTxO22 (Me = Co2+, Mg2+, and Cr2+, and T = Fe3+, and Ga3+). The samples were prepared by the conventional ball milling technique and sintering at 1200° C. The effect of the choices of Me and T ions on the structural and magnetic properties of the hexaferrites were investigated. XRD patterns, magnetic parameters, and Mössbauer spectra of the Co2Y were consistent with a single phase Y-type hexaferrite. However, the CoCr-Y sample was found to be dominated by the Y-type hexaferrite, and M-type and BaCrO4 minority phases were observed in the XRD pattern of the sample. The small increase in saturation magnetization from about 34 emu/g up to 37.5 emu/g was therefore attributed to the development of the M-type phase. On the other hand, XRD pattern of the Cr2Y sample indicated the dominance of the M-type phase in this sample. The high coercivity (1445 Oe) of this sample is evidence of the transformation of the material from a typically soft magnetic material (Y-type) to a hard magnet (M-type). The Ga-substitution for Fe in Co2Y did not affect the saturation magnetization significantly, but the coercivity was reduced. However, the sample Ba2CoMgFe11GaO22 exhibited a significant reduction of the saturation magnetization down to a value 26.6 emu/g, which could be due to the attenuation of the super-exchange interactions induced by the Mg2+ substitution.

Structural and magnetic properties of Cu-V substituted M-type barium hexaferrites

In search of magnetic materials with improved magnetic characteristics for practical applications, M-type barium hexaferrites with Fe3+ ions partially substituted by a mixture of Cu and V ions were prepared by ball milling and sintering at 1200° C. The structural analyses of the prepared BaFe12-2xCuxVxO19 samples (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) revealed the presence of BaM phase, in addition to α-Fe2O3, Ba3V2O8, and BaFe2O4 nonmagnetic phases which evolved as x increased. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging demonstrated the presence of different phases in the substituted samples, and a general trend of particle-size growth with increasing x. Energy dispersive spectroscopy was used to examine the local stoichiometry of the samples, and confirmed the different phases identified by XRD analysis. The saturation magnetization was found to be high for low substitution level (72 emu/g for the sample with x = 0.1 sintered for 2 h, and 65 emu/g for the sample sintered for 10 h), while it decreased significantly with increasing the substitution level. The coercivity (Hc) for the samples sintered for 2 h was found to decrease sharply with increasing x, even at low substitution levels (x < 0.2), where it decreased from about 3.5 kOe for the un-substituted sample down to about 1.6 kOe for the sample with x = 0.1, and down to below 0.3 kOe at higher substitution levels. The coercivity of the sample with x = 0.1 sintered for 10 h reduced further, down to about 677 Oe, demonstrating properties demanded for magnetic recording applications. Further, washing with HCl was found to remove some of the nonmagnetic phases, and increase the yield of the BaM phase.

Synthesis and structural characterization of nonstoichiometric barium hexaferrite materials with Fe:Ba ratio of 11.5 – 16.16

Synthesis of barium hexaferrites BaFe12O19 (BaM) is often accompanied by the presence of secondary nonmagnetic phases. The coexistence of these phases reduces the yield of the desired BaM magnetic phase and screens its intrinsic magnetic properties such as the saturation magnetization, and impacts the magnetic properties of the sample negatively. Therefore, assessment of the abundance of these phases and investigating their effect on the structural properties of the sample is of fundamental and practical importance. In this work, BaM hexaferrites were prepared by ball milling and sintering powder precursors with Fe:Ba molar ratios varying from 11.5 to 16.16. The structural properties of the phases in the samples were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The weight ratios of the different phases, as well as their refined structural parameters were determined using Rietveld analysis. XRD patterns revealed the development of α-Fe2O3 (hematite) phase with increasing relative diffracted intensity as the Fe:Ba molar ratio increased. The evolution of the intensity of this phase was used to monitor the weight ratio of the secondary hematite phase in the sample, and a relation between the its weight ratio and the Fe:Ba ratio was established. The optimal Fe:Ba ratio required to synthesis a pure barium hexaferrite phase was then determined, and found to be 11.7.

Structural and magnetic properties of Vanadium Doped M- Type Barium Hexaferrite (BaFe12-xVxO19)

Precursor powders of barium hexaferrite doped with vanadium, BaFe12-xVxO19 with (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5), were prepared using the ball milling technique and then sintered at different temperatures for 2 h. The structural properties of the prepared samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the magnetic properties were examined by the vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). XRD and SEM studies of the samples sintered at 1100° C indicated the presence of Ba3V2O8 and α-Fe2O3 non-magnetic oxide phases in addition to BaM hexaferrite phase. The fractions of the nonmagnetic oxide phases were found to increase with increasing x, and sintering the samples at temperatures higher than 1100° C was found to reduce the amounts of these non-magnetic phases only slightly. However, the addition of barium in excess of the stoichiometric ratio was found to remove the α-Fe2O3 oxide, and improve the saturation magnetization of the samples significantly. In addition, washing these samples with HCl was found to improve the saturation magnetization further. The effect of sintering the samples at higher temperatures was also found to reduce the coercivity due to growth of the particle size. However, the coercivity of all samples remained high enough for potential permanent magnet and magnetic recording applications.