Impact of Different Set of Precipitants on the Formation of BaFe12O19 Phase Nanomaterials

Abstract

This work deals with the preparation of BaFe12O19 materials by soft chemical co-precipitation method using a different set of precipitants namely, (i) NaOH and Na2CO3, (ii) NH2CONH2 and NH4OH, and (iii) NH4HCO3 and NH4OH. The influence of these precipitants on the different properties is also investigated by various characterizations. The precipitants used in this work considerably affected the phase formation of BaFe12O19 materials. The thermal analyses reveal the thermal decomposition of the intermediate phase as well as the crystallization of BaFe12O19 phase. Due to the amorphous nature, all the co-precipitated products were annealed for 2 h at 1000 °C. Among the different annealed samples, the NaOH and Na2CO3 set of precipitant derived materials exhibit nearly single hexagonal phase of crystalline BaFe12O19 nanomaterials with an average crystalline size of ˜48 nm with a = 0.5888(4) nm and c = 2.320(2) nm. The particle size observed in micrograph was rather much higher than the average crystalline size obtained from XRD for the best sample. The BaFe12O19 nanomaterials studied in the present work have been found potential applications in magneto-optic recording media, biomolecular separations, magnetic carriers for drug targeting, permanent magnet, chip inductors, microwave absorbers, and hyperthermia cancer treatment.