Magnetic properties, structural studies and microwave absorption performance of Ba0.5Sr0.5CuxZrxFe12-2xO19/Poly Ortho-Toluidine (X = 0.2,0.4, 0.6, 0.8) ceramic nanocomposites

Abstract

Cu/Zr-doped barium strontium hexaferrite/poly (O-toluidine) nanocomposites (Ba0.5Sr0.5CuxZrxFe12-2xO19/POT) (BSCZH/POT) (X = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) were synthesized by the in-situ polymerization of O-toluidine in the presence of BSCZH as electromagnetic shields in the Ku-Band (12–18 GHz) frequency ranges. The Rietveld refinement, according to the X-ray diffraction analysis results, showed that the prepared samples possessed a single-phase with the space group of P63/mmc; also, the lattice parameter constant (a) was 5.898(Å) for the pure Ba0.5 Sr0.5 Fe12O19 nanoparticle (x = 0); further, the value of the lattice constant (a) was increased to 5.918(Å) for BSCZH (x = 0.8) with raising the concentration of the dopant. A decrement in the saturation magnetization of BSCZH/POT, as compared to BSCZH in the VSM analysis, indicated that the synthesized polymer was immobilized on the surface of hexaferrite nanoparticles. TEM analysis also demonstrated the core–shell structure of the nanocomposites, thus corroborating that the nanoparticles were coated via the in-situ polymerization of O-toluidine on the surface of nanoparticles. VNA analysis also revealed that the BSCZH/POT nanocomposite with the thickness of 2 mm had the highest microwave absorption of about 90% (the reflection loss value of −27.63 dB at 16.32 GHz) for BSCZH/POT (X = 0.2), as compared to the other samples in the Ku-Band (12–18 GHz) frequency ranges. The results, therefore, indicated that the newly synthesized nanocomposite could be used as an efficient EMI shield against electromagnetic pollution.