Structures and magnetic properties of nanocomposite CoFe2O4-BaTiO3 fibers by organic gel-thermal decomposition process

Abstract

The nanocomposite xCoFe2O4-(1−x)BaTiO3 (x=0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, molar fraction) fibers with fine diameters and high aspect ratios (length to diameter ratios) were prepared by the organic gel-thermal decomposition process from citric acid and metal salts. The structures and morphologies of gel precursors and fibers derived from thermal decomposition of the gel precursors were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The magnetic properties of the nanocomposite fibers were measured by vibrating sample magnetometer. The nanocomposite fibers consisting of ferrite (CoFe2O4) and perovskite (BaTiO3) are formed at the calcination temperature of 900 °C for 2 h. The average grain sizes of CoFe2O4 and BaTiO3 in the nanocomposite fibers increase from 25 to 65 nm with the calcination temperature from 900 to 1 180 °C. The single fiber constructed from these nanograins of CoFe2O4 and BaTiO3 has a necklace-like morphology. The saturation magnetization of the nanocomposite 0.4CoFe2O4-0.6BaTiO3 fibers increases with the increase of CoFe2O4 grain size, while the coercivity reaches a maximum value when the average grain size of CoFe2O4 is around the critical single-domain size of 45 nm obtained at 1 000 °C. The saturation magnetization and remanence of the nanocomposite xCoFe2O4-(1−x)BaTiO3 (x=0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) fibers almost exhibit a linear relationship with the molar fraction of CoFe2O4 in the nanocomposites.