Examination the Grain Size Dependence of Exchange Coupling in Oxide-Based SrFe12O19/Ni0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 Nanocomposites

Magnetic hard/soft SrFe12O19/Ni0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 nanocomposites were fabricated by a two-step chemical procedure. Strontium hexaferrite NPs were synthesized via sol-gel self-propagation and then dispersed in nickel-zinc ferrite sol to prepare oxide nanocomposites by the glyoxilate precursor method. The initial product was annealed at different temperatures to study the effect of grain size on the magnetic properties of composite hard/soft ferrites. The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TEM, and VSM techniques. Magnetic measurements indicated concave hysteresis loops for these two-phase nanocomposites due to non-complete exchange coupling at the interfaces of hard and soft ferrites. This phenomenon could be attributed to the overcritical size, 46 nm, of the hard phase, based on the critical limit of 22 nm predicted by theoretical calculation. At high annealing temperature with increasing the size of the soft phase as well as the hard phase, the dipolar interaction became dominant and the magnetic behavior of hard/soft nanocomposites approached two-phase uncoupled magnets.