Iron oxide nanocomposite magnets produced by partial reduction of strontium hexaferrite

Isotropic bulk nanocomposite permanent magnets were produced with strontium hexaferrite, SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3), and magnetite, Fe3O4, as the magnetically hard and soft components. A novels synthesis scheme based on the partial reduction of SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3) was employed. In two parallel experiments, nano- and microcrystalline SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3) particles were compacted into pellets along with a controlled, understoichiometric amount of potato starch as a reducing agent. The pellets were then sintered in a passive atmosphere. Based on XRD and room temperature magnetic hysteresis measurements, it was concluded that a fraction of the SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3) input material had been reduced into Fe3O4. In comparison with pure SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3) control pellets, these composites exhibited maximum energy product increases in excess of 5 % due to remanence boosting. The improvement of magnetic properties was attributed to an efficient exchange spring coupling between the magnetic phases. Interestingly, as the synthesis scheme also worked for microcrystalline SrO center dot 6Fe(2)O(3), the method could presumably be adapted to yield crystallographically oriented bulk nanocomposite magnets.