Juan C. Aphesteguy

Microwave Resonant and Zero-Field Absorption Study of Doped Magnetite Prepared by a Co-Precipitation Method

Fe3O4 and ZnxFe3−xO4 pure and doped magnetite magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared in aqueous solution (Series A) or in a water-ethyl alcohol mixture (Series B) by the co-precipitation method. Only one ferromagnetic resonance line was observed in all cases under consideration indicating that the materials are magnetically uniform. The shortfall in the resonance fields from 3.27 kOe (for the frequency of 9.5 GHz) expected for spheres can be understood taking into account the dipolar forces, magnetoelasticity, or magnetocrystalline anisotropy. All samples show non-zero low field absorption. For Series A samples the grain size decreases with an increase of the Zn content. In this case zero field absorption does not correlate with the changes of the grain size. For Series B samples the grain size and zero field absorption behavior correlate with each other. The highest zero-field absorption corresponded to 0.2 zinc concentration in both A and B series. High zero-field absorption of Fe3O4 ferrite magnetic NPs can be interesting for biomedical applications.

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Nanoparticles of NiCuZn Ferrite Prepared by the Self-Combustion Method

NiCuZn ferrites were prepared by the sol-gel self-combustion method. Nanosized, homogeneous and highly reactive powders were obtained at relatively low temperatures. In present work the variations of structural, magnetic, and microwave properties of NiCuZn ferrite nanoparticles were studied as a function of the annealing temperature. The analysis of XRD patterns showed that only the spinel phase is present. Cell parameters slightly vary with thermal treatment while a crystalline size increases. Magnetic nanoparticles were mixed with an epoxy resin for reflectivity studies with a microwave vector network analyzer using the microwave-guide method in the range of 7.5 to 13.5GHz. Static saturation magnetization value (measured by SQUID) and microwave absorption show clear dependence on the annealing temperature/particle size and the absorption maximum moves towards the higher frequencies with an increase in the average size of the particles.

STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYANILINE COMPOSITE FILMS

In this work a novel approach for the preparation of Fe3O4/PANI (polyaniline) thin film composite containing magnetic nanoparticles is presented. Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been coated by PANI and the PANI chains have been doped by 10-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA). The doped composite is soluble in common organic solvents. Thin films of composites of polyaniline (PANI) were casted from m-cresol. Several characterization techniques were employed in order to determine composition, structure and magnetic properties of the nanocomposite film (Xray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, TEM, Scanning electron microscopy, SEM, and optical microscopy). The magnetization data were obtained from M(H) hysteresis loops and zero field cooling – field cooling, ZFC-FC. Magnetic measurements evidence a ferromagnetic behaviour of the obtained composite, at room temperature with saturation magnetization of about 3.4 emu/g and coercivity of 42 Oe. The temperature dependences of the conductivity of the films follows the         = − 1 / 2 ( ) exp T T To o σ σ law, which has been explained within the framework of the onedimensional variable-range-hoping (1D-VRH) model. Application of 1T magnetic field increases the resistivity of the film and the temperature slope dependence.