Effects of Ce-Co substitution on the magnetic properties of M-type barium hexaferrites

M-type barium hexaferrites Ba1-xCexFe12-xCoxO19 (0.0 <= x <= 0.3) have been synthesized by a simple chemical coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies indicate that the samples are of single phase, with space group P6(3)/mmc. The results of field-emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM) show that the grains are regular hexagonal platelets with sizes from 0.5 to 1.5 mu m. It is observed that the value of the coercivity field (H-c) increases at low substitution (x <= 0.1), reaches a maximum at x = 0.1, and then decreases at x >= 0.1, while the value of saturation magnetization (M-s) decreases monotonically with increasing x. The variations of magnetic properties can be tentatively attributed to the effects of Ce-Co substitution. The results above indicate that our samples might be promising candidates for permanent magnets and perpendicular recording media materials in the future. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.