Ferrite Crystals Research Articles

Structure and magnetic properties of ultrafine lithium ferrite crystallized from a borate glass

A glass with the mol. % compositions 51.7 B2O3/9.3 K2O/1 P2O5/27.6 Li2O/10.4 Fe2O3 was crystallized at temperatures in the range from 400 to 540 °C for different periods of time (2–12 h). X-ray diffraction showed cubic Li ferrite with a spinel structure, LiFe5O8, with small crystallites with sizes in the range from 3 to 31 nm. While the samples crystallized at 440, 480, and 500 °C reveal a disordered phase, crystallization at 540 °C indicates a phase transformation to the ordered state. Magnetization curves showed that the samples crystallized at 440 °C are superparamagnetic with very low maximum magnetization, while the samples crystallized at 480 and 500 °C show thin clear S-shaped magnetization curves with zero coercivity and hence are also superparamagnetic. By contrast, the sample crystallized at 540 °C shows a coercive field of 40 Oe and thus is ferrimagnetic. The magnetic properties can be tailored by the size of the ferrite crystals and hence by the crystallization conditions.

Controlling DC permeability in cast steels

Annealing (at multiple cooling rates) and quenching (with tempering) was performed on specimens of cast steel of varying composition. The aim was to devise a method for selecting the steel with the highest permeability, from any given range of steels, and then increasing the permeability by heat treatment. Metallographic samples were imaged using optical microscopy to show the effect of the applied heat treatments on the microstructure. Commonly cast steels can have DC permeability altered by the careful selection of a heat treatment. Increases of up to 381% were achieved by annealing using a cooling rate of 6.0°C/min. Annealing was found to cause the carbon present in the steel to migrate from grain boundaries and from within ferrite crystals into adjacent pearlite crystals. The migration of the carbon resulted in less carbon at grain boundaries and within ferrite crystals reducing the number of pinning sites between magnetic domains. This gives rise to a higher permeability. Quenching then tempering was found to cause the formation of small ferrite crystals with the carbon content of the steel predominately held in the martensitic crystal structures. The results show that with any given range of steel compositions the highest baseline DC permeability will be found with the steel that has the highest iron content and the lowest carbon content. For the samples tested in this paper a cooling rate of 4.5°C/min resulted in the relative permeability of the sample with the highest baseline permeability, AS4, increasing from 783 to 1479 at 0.5T. This paper shows how heat treatments commonly applied to hypoeutectoid cast steels, to improve their mechanical performance, can be used to also enhance electromagnetic properties of these alloys. The use of cast steels allows the creation of DC components for electrical machines not possible by the widely used method of stacking of electrical grade sheet steels.

INFLUENCE OF WELDING TECHNIQUES ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND HARDNESS OF STEEL JOINTS USED IN AUTOMOTIVE AIR CONDITIONERS

Austenitic steels belong to a group of special-purpose steels that are widely used in highly aggressive environments due to their enhanced anticorrosive behavior and high mechanical properties. The good formability and weldability of these materials has made them very popular in automotive AC systems. This study presents the results of hardness tests and microstructure observations on plasma- and laser-welded joints. The examined joints consisted of two different stainless steel components; i.e., a nipple made from corrosion-resistant AISI 304 steel and a corrugated hose made from 316L steel. Microplasma welding was carried out on a workstation equipped with an MSP-51 plasma supply system and a BY-100T positioner. The laser-welded joint was made on a numerically controlled workstation equipped with an Nd:YAG laser (without filler material) with 1 kW of maximum power; the rotational speed of the welded component was n = 4 rpm. Microstructural observations were performed using a scanning electron microscope and an optical microscope. Vickers hardness was measured with a hardness tester. The obtained results proved that both the microplasma- and laser-welded joints were free from any visible welding imperfections. In the micro areas of the austenitic steel weld, crystals of intercellular ferrite appeared against a background of austenite. The crystallization front (depending on the welding technology) was running from the fusion line towards the weld axis. The grain size depended on the distance from the fusion line.

Structure, crystallization and dielectric resonances in 2–13 GHz of waste-derived glass-ceramic

Structure, kinetics of crystallization, and dielectric resonances of waste-derived glass-ceramic prepared via quench-heating route were studied as a function of dosage of iron ore tailing (IOT) within 20–40 wt% using X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vector network analyzer (VNA) measurements. The glass-ceramic mainly consisted of ferrite crystals embedded in borosilicate glass matrix. Crystallization kinetics and morphologies of ferrite crystals as well as coordination transformation of boron between [BO4] and [BO3] in glass network were adjustable by changing the amount of IOT. Dielectric resonances in 6–13 GHz were found to be dominated by oscillations of Ca2+ cations in glass network with [SiO4] units on their neighboring sites. Ni2+ ions made a small contribution to those resonances. Diopside formed when IOT exceeded 35 wt%, which led to weakening of the resonances.

Crystal Shape Tailoring in Perovskite Structure Rare-Earth Ferrites REFeO3 (RE = La, Pr, Sm, Dy, Er, and Y) and Shape-Dependent Magnetic Properties of YFeO3

Controllable growth of perovskite oxide with tailored shapes is challenging but promising for shape-dependent physical and chemical property studies and probable applications. In this article, we report a general method for tailoring the crystal shape of perovskite structure rare-earth ferrite (REFeO3) crystals in hydrothermal conditions. By adjusting the ratio of KOH to urea, various shapes of REFeO3 crystals can be prepared, such as LaFeO3 truncated cubes, PrFeO3 perpendicular cross prisms, SmFeO3 crossed bars with trustum, DyFeO3 double pyramids on cubes, ErFeO3 distorted octahedrons, and YFeO3 long bars and thick hexagonal elongated plates. Detailed shape tailoring conditions for each phase of the crystals have been discussed clearly. The structure-dependent shape growing mechanism for each REFeO3 is generally discussed by consideration of the variance of reduced unit cell parameters in reference to the ideal cubic ABO3 perovskite structure. DyFeO3 was taken as an example to elucidate the crystal shap...

Structural Studies of Welds in Wear-Resistant Steels

The work presents results of the research on changes in microstructural, and mechanical properties of the structural XAR 400 wear-resistant steel caused by the welding procedure. Metallographic and microhardness studies revealed complex microstructure of the welds that turned out to vary with the distance from the weld axis: predominance of the acicular ferrite (ACF) structures in the weld itself, quasi-polygonal ferrite (QPF) crystals with precipitates of troostite (T) in the heat-aected zone, and the bainitic ferrite (BF) structures in the heat-partiallyaected zone.

Evolution of magnetic and bone mineral phases in heat‐treated bioactive glass containing zinc and iron oxides

Melt‐quenched 15(ZnO,Fe2O3) 50SiO2·20(CaO,P2O5) 15Na2O bioactive glass was heat treated at temperatures (TA) ranging from 550°C to 850°C for different time periods (tA=1, 2 and 3 hours) to understand its devitrification characteristics. Crystallization of calcium sodium phosphate, zinc ferrite, magnetite, and hematite phases depended on heat treatment conditions. Decrease in saturation magnetizations (Ms) with increase in tA of glass heat treated at TA≥750°C is attributed to the formation of hematite which is a weak magnetic material. Magnetic properties as functions of TA and tA are interpreted on the basis of clustering of Fe ions, super‐exchange interaction between Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions and formation of ferrimagnetic and weakly magnetic iron oxide phases with different heat treatment conditions. Electron paramagnetic resonance parameters reveal the variations in site distortions and randomness in Fe ion environment in the matrix upon heat treatment. In vitro mineralization ability of the glass‐ceramics was evaluated by immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) and monitoring both the pH variation of SBF and formation of hydroxyapatite surface layer as a function of immersion time. These studies help in assessing these glass‐ceramics for hyperthermia treatment and in optimizing the processing conditions for this application.

Synthesis and Size-Selective Precipitation of Monodisperse Nonstoichiometric MxFe3–xO4 (M = Mn, Co) Nanocrystals and Their DC and AC Magnetic Properties

Spinel ferrite nanocrystals (NCs) have shown great promise for a wide variety of electromagnetic and medical applications. In this work, the AC magnetic properties of nonstoichiometric manganese and cobalt ferrites (MxFe3–xO4, M = Mn, Co) NCs are systematically studied as a function of composition. Samples of very similar average size and shape, but different Mn to Fe and Co to Fe ratios are prepared to study the effect of composition. Conventional syntheses are combined with a size-selective precipitation method using oleic acid as an antisolvent yielding nearly monodisperse samples. DC and AC magnetic measurements shows that introducing Co to the ferrite crystal increases the blocking temperatures and magnetic anisotropies of the nanocrystals with corresponding shifts in AC magnetic susceptibilities, while manganese ferrites are relatively insensitive to the variation in compositions as size and shape dominate over crystal anisotropy. The systematic AC-magnetic characterizations of superparamagnetic Mnx...

Low loss and narrow-band THz filter based on magnetic photonic crystals

As a key point to applying and studying magnetic photonic crystal technology, communication devices such as the magnetic photonic crystal filters with high performance and easy integration are developed. We investigate the feasibility of ferrite magnetism materials that can be used to make photonic crystal filters. The optical properties of the magnetic materials may be tuned by adjusting the magnetic field or temperature. The band gap of the magnetic photonic crystal can thus be transferred by changing the external magnetic field. This kind of magnetic photonic crystal has a great application prospect. A low insertion loss and narrow-band filter is designed based on a magnetic field-controlled ferrite defect in a photonic crystal for a terahertz (THz) wave. Ferrite is a ferromagnetic metal oxide with high dielectric constant, low saturation magnetization intensity, and high magnetic permeability at high frequencies. According to the crystal structure it can be divided into three categories: spinel, garnet and magnetic rock types. The garnet ferrite crystal can be used to realize THz band transmission, and its absorption coefficient is low (0.05-0.3) in uniform polarization. In this paper, a novel magnetic THz photonic crystal filter is proposed, in which point defects are produced by the introduction of garnet ferrite magnetic materials. Based on the coupling characteristics between the linear defect wave guide and the point defects, THz wave with a certain wave length can be well coupled by changing the radius and arrangement of the resonant cavity, so as to achieve high efficiency filter function. The permeability properties of ferrite magnetic materials are changed with the variation of the intensity of the external magnetic field, and the tuning of the frequency of the resonance mode. The optical properties of the filter are analyzed in detail by using plane waves method(PWM) in finite difference time domain(FDTD). Simulation results show that by changing the point defect structure and the radius of a certain dielectric cylinder, the insertion loss and 3 dB bandwidth of the filter are 0.0997 dB and 8.22 GHz, respectively.

Control of crystal phase and morphology in hydrothermal synthesis of BiFeO3 crystal

Bismuth ferrite crystal is synthesized by hydrothermal method. The effect of hydrothermal temperature, KOH concentration, supersaturation, cooling rate, and compactedness on the crystal phase and the morphology of product were investigated. The results indicated that BiFeO3 microcrystalline with good quality could been synthesized at 140–240°C with KOH concentration of 4–14molL−1. In addition, it is favorable for improving the crystal quality to reduce the supersaturation and decrease the cooling rate. With the increasing of the compactedness, surface holes and cracks of the as-grown crystals would be reduced. The optimization of hydrothermal condition provides guidance to grow BiFeO3 crystal with a large size and high quality for practical application.

Hydrothermal growth of fine magnetite and ferrite crystals

In the present work, magnetite (Fe3O4, avg. ~70nm) synthesis employing Azadirachta indica (neem) leaf extract is reported originally using hydrothermal conditions and the results obtained were compared with that of D-glucose. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the presence of polysaccharides and proteins in the extract which act as both surfactants and reducing agents, aided the formation of magnetite nanostructures. Authors also reported the selective doping of Zn, Cu and Co on nickel ferrite for the enhancement of adsorptive dye removal property, adopting and investigating the use of eloquent one-step green hydrothermal approach (T=180°C, t=4h, pH=12) with sodium dodecyl sulfate as surfactant. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that all the materials synthesized are isometric spinel structures and furthermore, morphological evidences using scanning electron microscopy are accounted. Adsorptive dye removal ability of synthesized materials was investigated using trypan blue as a probe. It was evident from the results that magnetite using neem extract showed enhanced adsorption ability (75%) than that of D-glucose (62%). Also, exponential increase in dye removal efficiency from 55% to 81% due to the presence of copper in nickel ferrite was duly noted.

Single crystal growth, structural characteristics and magnetic properties of chromium substituted M-type ferrites

Two different types of fluxes, namely sodium based and chloride based fluxes were used to grow Cr substituted barium and strontium hexaferrite ferrite crystals, (Sr,Ba)Fe12 − xCrxO19 at comparatively low temperatures of about 1300 °C. The sodium based flux led to growth of larger crystals up to 5 mm, but with only minor Cr contents x ≤ 0.07. From the chloride based flux the obtained Cr contents are significantly higher with x = 5.7 (Sr) and x = 3.4 (Ba), however, crystals reach only sizes in the sub-mm range. X-ray absorption spectroscopy data support exclusively isovalent substitution of Fe3+ by Cr3+ even for very low Cr contents. 57Fe Mößbauer spectroscopy reveals Cr to preferentially occupy the six-fold by oxygen coordinated site at 12k and, to a lower degree, 2a and 4f2 in space group P63/mmc. All characteristic magnetic properties drop upon Cr substitution, e. g., the Curie temperature from 728 K for pure BaFe12O19 to 465 K for BaFe8.6Cr3.4O19, the saturation magnetization from 71 emu/g to 29.7 emu/g and the coercive field from 363 Oe to 45 Oe.

Structure and properties of MnZn ferrite nanoparticles synthesized via sol–gel autocombustion method

MnZn ferrite powder particles were prepared via a sol–gel autocombustion method using nitrates as raw materials. Transmission electron micrographs revealed that the particles were uniform and decentralized with sizes of 20–30 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns showed characteristic features of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 ferrite crystals with a nanocrystalline cubic spinel structure and crystallite size of 21.5 nm. The lattice constant determined from the Rietveld refinement was 8.475 A. A saturated magnetic induction intensity of 39.18 emu/g and coercive force of only 18.1 Oe were measured using a quantum design physical property measurement system.

Growth of CoFe2O4 particles on wood template using controlled hydrothermal method at low temperature

Magnetic wood would be a potential for electromagnetic shielding, indoor electromagnetic wave absorber and special decoration. This work focuses on the development of a method to make magnetic wood/CoFe2O4 composites using a hydrothermal process. A particular emphasis is devoted to the understanding of the role of the chemical parameters involved in the hydrothermal technique, and of the hydrothermal treatment on the structures and properties of the materials obtained. The magnetic wood/CoFe2O4 composites could be obtained at 90°C within 8h. The crystallization of the spinel ferrites that precipitated on the wood template was promoted by the increase in reaction temperature. The saturation magnetization of the magnetic wood composites increases with holding time rapidly, attaining a maximum value of 2.59emu/g at 8h. Moreover, it has been found that the concentration of KNO3 and NaOH have a critical influence on the resultant structure, morphology and magnetic property of the magnetic wood composites.

Ultrafast near-infrared nonlinear absorption in a multiferroic single crystal of bismuth ferrite

We studied the ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity in a single crystal of multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) in the near-infrared range of 0.5–1.0 eV, where the material is fundamentally transparent, at room temperature. With pump pulses at 1.55 eV, which is off-resonant to the strong inter-band charge transfer (CT) transition, we observed instantaneous transient absorption with a pencil-like temporal profile originating from the two-photon CT transition from the oxygen 2p to the iron 3d levels. In contrast, under pumping with 3.10 eV photons, the pencil-like absorption change was not observed but decay profiles showed longer time constants. Although the two-photon absorption coefficient estimated to be 1.5 cm/GW is 10 (100) times smaller than that of two (one)-dimensional cuprates, it is larger than those of common semiconductors such as ZnSe at the optical communication wavelength.

Sol–gel synthesis of copper(II) and titanium(IV) ions co-doped barium ferrite submicrometer crystals and their microwave absorption performance

Copper(II)–titanium(IV)-doped barium ferrite (Ba(CuTi)xFe12−2xO19, x = 0, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25) were prepared by the sol–gel method. The X-ray diffraction patterns of Ba(CuTi)xFe12−2xO19 proved that M-type barium hexagonal ferrite was formed. From the field emission scanning electron microscopy images, hexagon shaped grains could be obviously observed in Ba(CuTi)xFe12−2xO19 when x = 0.5, but its morphology tended to be irregular when x ≥ 0.75. In addition, the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry test revealed that the doping limit of x was 0.75. Based on the electromagnetic parameters measured by the vector net-analyzer in the frequency of 2–18 GHz, the maximum reflection loss value of −37 dB at 16.7 GHz was observed for Ba(CuTi)xFe12−2xO19 (x = 0.75) with a matching thickness of 1.6 mm. Therefore, Ba(CuTi)xFe12−2xO19 may be a good candidate as the microwave absorbing material for the applications in the field of high frequency.

Composition Optimization and Experimental Characterization of a Novel Steel Based on CALPHAD

A new steel with high Cr and low W, Mo contents for forged cold work roll was designed based on the composition system of traditional high-speed steel roll. The Fe-C isopleths of the steel and the mass fraction of equilibrium phases versus temperature were calculated by Thermo-Calc, and the effects of different alloying elements (W, Mo, Cr, V) on austenite, ferrite, and carbides (MC, M6C, M7C3, M23C6) were also established to optimize the composition and structure. The designed and optimized specimens were both quenched at 1100 °C and then tempered twice at 560 °C. The hardness and wear resistance of the samples were measured. The microstructures of quenched tempered and forged specimens were studied. The results show that ferrite crystallization, peritectic reaction, austenite crystallization, and the precipitation of MC, M6C, M7C3, M23C6 occur during equilibrium solidification process. The alloying elements W, Mo mainly affect the precipitation of M6C, while Cr affects the precipitated region and mass fraction of M7C3. Higher V content widens the high-temperature region of the peritectic reaction and results in a large amount of MC precipitation. The optimized composition (wt.%) for cold work roll steel is 1.30-1.35%C, 9-10%Cr, 2.5-3.0%Mo, 0.5-1.0%W, 2.5-3.0%V, 0.5-0.6%Mn, 0.5-0.6%Si. The hardness of the steel after quenching and tempering is 60.8 HRC and weight loss after 120 min is 6.2 mg. This meets the requirement of hardness and wear resistance requirements for cold work roll. The ledeburite in the optimized steel disappears after forging and the carbide network break into a large amount of tiny blocky ones dispersed in the matrix without cracks, which shows a good forgeability of the steel and rationality of the optimized composition.

Photocatalytic activity of anatase–nickel ferrite heterostructures

The simple co‐precipitation route was used to couple commercial TiO2 anatase nanopowder with nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4). The morphology and the crystalline structure of composite nanoparticles were characterised by TEM, N2 adsorption‐desorption, XRD and Rietveld refinement, XPS and XAS. The optical and magnetic properties were investigated. After co‐precipitation NiFe2O4 nanoparticles, composed of spinel ferrite crystal phase, were formed on the surface of TiO2 anatase nanopowder. The TiO2/NiFe2O4 composite oxide demonstrated large specific surface area, high visible light absorption efficiency and efficient charge carrier separation, compared to pristine anatase TiO2 or pristine NiFe2O4, representatively. The obtained TiO2/NiFe2O4 composite oxides, with different nickel ferrite contents (5, 10, 25, 50 and 75 wt%) showed decent visible light photocatalytic efficiency, up to three times higher than pure anatase or pure NiFe2O4. However, TiO2/NiFe2O4 composite oxides did not demonstrate high magnetic properties.

BaCO3 mediated modifications in structural and magnetic properties of natural nanoferrites

Preparing M-type barium hexaferrite and improving the magnetic response of natural ferrites by incorporating barium carbonate (BaCO3) is ever-demanding. Series of barium carbonate doped ferrites with composition (100−x)Fe3O4·xBaCO3 (x=0, 10, 20, 30wt%) are prepared through solid state reaction method and sintered gradually at temperatures of 800 and 1000°C. Nanoparticles of natural ferrite and commercial BaCO3 are used as raw materials. Impacts of BaCO3 on structural and magnetic properties of these synthesized ferrites are inspected. The obtained ferrites are characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature. Uniform barium hexaferrite particles in terms of both morphology and size are not achieved. The average crystallite size of BaFe12O19 is observed to be within 30–600nm. The sintering process results phase transformation from Fe3O4 (magnetite) to α-Fe2O3 (hematite) and the formation of hexagonal barium ferrite crystals. The occurrence of barium crystal is found to enhance with the increase of BaCO3 concentrations up to 20wt% and suddenly drop at 30wt%. Saturation and remanent magnetization of the doped ferrites are significantly augmented up to 16.37 and 8.92emug−1, respectively compared to their pure counterpart. Furthermore, the coercivity field is slightly decreased as BaCO3 concentrations are increased. BaCO3 mediated improvements in the magnetic response of natural ferrites are demonstrated.

Solvothermal synthesis and characterization of monodisperse superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

Abstract A series of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle clusters with different structure guide agents were synthesized by a modified solvothermal method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analyses (TG), a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It is found that the superparamagnetic nanoparticles guided by NaCit (sodium citrate) have high saturation magnetization ( M s ) of 69.641 emu/g and low retentivity ( M r ) of 0.8 emu/g. Guiding to form superparamagnetic clusters with size range of 80–110 nm, the adherent small-molecule citrate groups on the surface prevent the prefabricated ferrite crystals growing further. In contrast, the primary small crystal guided and stabilized by the PVP long-chain molecules assemble freely to larger ones and stop growing in size range of 100–150 nm, which has saturation magnetization ( M s ) of 97.979 emu/g and retentivity ( M r ) of 46.323 emu/g. The relevant formation mechanisms of the two types of samples are proposed at the end. The superparamagnetic ferrite clusters guided by sodium citrate are expected to be used for movement controlling of passive interference particles to avoid aggregation and the sample guided by PVP will be a candidate of nanometer wave absorbing material.