Synthesis of air stable FeCo alloy nanocrystallite by proteic sol-gel method using a rotary oven

Highly air stable FeCo nanocrystals were synthesized by the proteic sol-gel method using a rotary oven. The synthesized materials were characterized by TG, DTA, XRD, TPR, VSM, Mossbauer spectroscopy and FEG-SEM. The results showed the effect of temperature and the influence of the hydrogen flow rate on the formation of pure FeCo alloy and on the average crystallite size. The use of a rotary oven is efficient, directly influencing the homogeneity and the purity of the FeCo alloy. The synthesized alloy has high values of saturation magnetization according to the VSM results. The performed characterizations confirmed that the synthetic route is interesting in the formation of FeCo alloy nanocrystallites with high chemical stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.