Abstract
Ferromagnetism has been induced in nanostructured TiO2/Al powders prepared by ball milling at room temperature. This study presents the investigation of the origin of the magnetism in a TiO2/Al system with a combination of experiments and density functional theory (DFT) simulations. Our results demonstrate that adsorption of Al on surfaces of TiO2 nanostructures yields spontaneous magnetization. Our DFT simulations show that spin-polarized charge-transfer occurs from an adsorbed Al atom to O 2p state in surface and subsurface for some unique configurations. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of the magnetic nanostructured TiO2/Al provide the necessary experimental evidence of the charge transfer and confirm the origin of ferromagnetic behavior. On the basis of the experiments and DFT simulations, we believe the room temperature ferromagnetism in nanostructured TiO2/Al originates from charge-transfer from Al to O atoms. Our results illustrate a complex interplay between the atomic level interfacial structure and the resulting ferromagnetic ordering in metal-coated semiconductor oxide nanostructures.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.