Synthesis and magnetic properties of hard/soft SrFe12O19/Ni0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 nanocomposite magnets

Magnetic nanocomposite SrFe₁₂O₁₉/Ni_0.7Zn_0.3Fe₂O₄ powders with different weight fractions of the Ni_0.7Zn_0.3Fe₂O₄ soft ferrite were synthesized by a combination of the sol–gel self-propagation and glyoxilate precursor methods. The results of magnetic measurements revealed the higher Mr/Ms ratio for the nanocomposites than that for the single phase SrFe₁₂O₁₉ which proves the existence of the intergrain exchange coupling between hard and soft magnetic phases with the exchange spring behavior. The highest Mr/Ms ratio of 0.63 was obtained in the composite consisting of 80 wt% of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ and 20 wt% Ni_0.7Zn_0.3Fe₂O₄. The microstructural studies of this sample exhibited the average dimensions of hard and soft phases about 20 nm and 15 nm, respectively which are small enough for strong exchange coupling according to the theoretical studies. The variations of the reduced remanence (Mr/Ms) with increasing the weight fraction of the soft phase could be also explained by the role of the exchange and dipolar interactions in tuning the magnetic properties of the nanocomposites.