Shen Xiangqian

Fabrication and magnetic properties of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres by electrospinning

NiZn ferrite/polyvinylpyrrolidone composite fibres were prepared by sol–gel assisted electrospinning. Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres with a pure cubic spinel structure were obtained subsequently by calcination of the composite fibres at high temperatures. This paper investigates the thermal decomposition process, structures and morphologies of the electrospun composite fibres and the calcined Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres at different temperatures by thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The magnetic behaviour of the resultant nanofibres was studied by a vibrating sample magnetometer. It is found that the grain sizes of the nanofibres increase significantly and the nanofibre morphology gradually transforms from a porous structure to a necklace-like nanostructure with the increase of calcination temperature. The Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres obtained at 1000 °C for 2 h are characterized by a necklace-like morphology and diameters of 100–200 nm. The saturation magnetization of the random Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres increases from 46.5 to 90.2 emu/g when the calcination temperature increases from 450 to 1000 °C. The coercivity reaches a maximum value of 11.0 kA/m at a calcination temperature of 600 °C. Due to the shape anisotropy, the aligned Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibres exhibit an obvious magnetic anisotropy and the ease magnetizing direction is parallel to the nanofibre axis.

Preparation of Spinel Ferrite CoFe2O4 Fibres by Organic Gel-Thermal Decomposition Process

Abstract Functional spinel ferrite fibers are attractive for high-tech applications. The spinel CoFe 2 O 4 fibres have been prepared by the organic gel-thermal decomposition process from starting materials of Co, Fe nitrate salts and citric acid. The gel spinning performance was a major factor for preparation of uniform gel fibrous precursors. It was related to the citrate-metal complex structure, and linear-type structural molecule [(C 6 H 6 O 7 ) 4 CoFe 2 ] n for the gel precursor was formed during the complexation reaction between the citric acid and metal ions at pH 5.5. As a result, the gel composed of these linear-type molecules exhibited a good spinning performance. The composition, structure of the gel precursors and products derived from thermal decomposition of these precursors were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM. The thermal decomposition process of the gel precursors was investigated by TG-DSC. The prepared spinel CoFe 2 O 4 fibres having grain sizes of 40∼50 nm possess the diameters of about 1µm, aspect ratios up to 1×10 6 (length/diameter), a saturation magnetization value of 81.97 A·m 2 /kg and a coercivity value of 1041.47×79.6 A/m.

Enhancement of microwave absorption of nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers

Nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers with diameters of about 1–5 μm are prepared by the organic gel-thermal selective reduction process. The binary phase of BaFe12O19 and α-Fe is formed after reduction of the precursor BaFe12O19/α-Fe2O3 microfibers at 350 °C for 1 h. These nanocomposite microfibers are fabricated from α-Fe (16–22 nm in diameter) and BaFe12O19 particles (36–42 nm in diameter) and basically exhibit a single-phase-like magnetization behavior, with a high saturation magnetization and coercive force arising from the exchange-coupling interactions of soft α-Fe and hard BaFe12O19. The microwave absorption characteristics in a 2–18 GHz frequency range of the nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers are mainly influenced by their mass ratio of α-Fe/BaFe12O19 and specimen thickness. It is found that the nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers with a mass ratio of 1:6 and specimen thickness of 2.5 mm show an optimal reflection loss (RL) of −29.7 dB at 13.5 GHz and the bandwidth with RL exceeding −10 dB covers the whole Ku-band (12.4–18.0 GHz). This enhancement of microwave absorption can be attributed to the heterostructure of soft, nano, conducting α-Fe particles embedded in hard, nano, semiconducting barium ferrite, which improves the dipolar polarization, interfacial polarization, exchange-coupling interaction, and anisotropic energy in the nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers.

Template growth mechanism of spherical Ni(OH)2

The microstructures and growth process characteristics of spherical Ni(OH)2 particles synthesized by the aqueous precipitation-crystallization method were investigated by SEM, TEM and XRD, and their growth mechanism was discussed. With the reaction beginning and continuing, amorphous Ni(OH)2 nano-crystallites grow up to spherical micron-particles with radially arranged crystallites. The nucleation, crystallization and re-crystallization led by Ostwald ripening simultaneously take place through the whole growth processes. With the course from reversible aggregation to irreversible agglomeration, the Ni(OH)2 particles tend to grow according to the template growth model: the growth on the crystallite templates stretching in the radius directions is free and quick, while the growth rate for crystallites in other directions is confined due to lower monomers concentration and tends to dissolve. So it is only the radially arranged crystallites that predominate in the particle and lead to characteristic microstructures.

Double-layer microwave absorber of nanocrystalline strontium ferrite and iron microfibers

Microwave absorption properties of the nanocrystalline strontium ferrite (SrFe12O19) and iron (α-Fe) microfibers for single-layer and double-layer structures are investigated in a frequency range of 2 GHz–18 GHz. For the single-layer absorbers, the nanocrystalline SrFe12O19 microfibers show some microwave absorptions at 6 GHz–18 GHz, with a minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −11.9 dB at 14.1 GHz for a specimen thickness of 3.0 mm, while for the nanocrystalline α-Fe microfibers, their absorptions largely take place at 15 GHz–18 GHz with the RL value exceeding −10 dB, with a minimum RL value of about −24 dB at 17.5 GHz for a specimen thickness of 0.7 mm. For the double-layer absorber with an absorbing layer of α-Fe microfibers with a thickness of 0.7 mm and matching layer of SrFe12O19 microfibers with a thickness of 1.3 mm, the minimum RL value is about −63 dB at 16.4 GHz and the absorption band width is about 6.7 GHz ranging from 11.3 GHz to 18 GHz with the RL value exceeding −10 dB which covers the whole Ku-band (12.4 GHz–18 GHz) and 27% of X-band (8.2 GHz–12.4 GHz).

Microwave absorption properties of a double-layer absorber based on nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe and nanocrystalline α-Fe microfibers

The nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe and nanocrystalline α-Fe microfibers with diameters of 1–5 μm, high aspect ratios and large specific areas are prepared by the citrate gel transformation and reduction process. The nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers show some exchange—coupling interactions largely arising from the magnetization hard (BaFe12O19) and soft (α-Fe) nanoparticles. For the microwave absorptions, the double-layer structures consisting of the nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe and α-Fe microfibers each exhibit a wide band and strong absorption behavior. When the nanocomposite BaFe12O19/α-Fe microfibers are used as a matching layer of 2.3 mm in thickness and α-Fe microfibers as an absorbing layer of 1.2 mm in thickness, the optimal reflection loss (RL) achieves −47 dB at 15.6 GHz, the absorption bandwidth is about 12.7 GHz ranging from 5.3 to 18 GHz, exceeding −20 dB, which covers 72.5% C-band (4.2–8.2 GHz) and whole X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) and Ku-band (12.4–18 GHz). The enhanced absorption properties of these double-layer absorbers are mainly ascribed to the improvement in impedance matching ability and microwave multi-reflection largely resulting from the dipolar polarization, interfacial polarization, exchange—coupling interaction, and small size effect.

Fabrication and Characterization of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 Magnetic Nanofibers

Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 Magnetic nanofibers were fabricated by calcining electrospun polymer/inorganic composite nanofibers and characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The experimental results show that the pure spinel structure is basically formed when the composite nanofibers are calcined at 450°C for 2h. With the increasing calcination temperature, both the saturation magnetization and coercivity of nanofiber samples increase initially along with the growth of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanocrystals contained in the nanofibers. However, when the calcination temperature reaches 550°C, the saturation magnetization of nanofibers starts to dramatically decrease owing to the formation of the α-Fe2O3 phase at this temperature. The prepared Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibers calcined at 500°C for 2h have diameters ranging from 100 to 200nm. Their saturation magnetization and coercivity are 12.37 emu/g and 4.81 kA/m at room temperature, respectively.

Structural characteristics of spherical Ni(OH)2 and its charge/discharge process mechanism

Spherical Ni(OH)2 particles were prepared by an aqueous solution precipitation route. The structure of spherical Ni(OH)2 was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy and compared with that of traditional Ni(OH)2. The results show that the spherical nickel hydroxide consists of Ni(OH)2 spheres with a reticulate structure of platelet-like, which is almost arranged radially and the crystalline grains intervene and connect with each other to form a three-dimensional net. The spherical Ni(OH)2 particle is full of pores, crannies between cleave planes. It is supposed that this structure is beneficial to the structural stability for the spherical particles during the charge/discharge processes and can improve the cycle life of the electrode; the pores and the crannies in spherical particles can shorten the proton diffusion distance and speed its velocity, which may result in that the local polarization is lowered. The electrochemical performances of the spherical Ni(OH)2 are improved by enhancing the conducting properties of the crystalline lattice due to its quick proton diffusion.