Influence of nickel substitution on crystal structure and magnetic properties of strontium ferrite preparation via sol-gel auto-combustion route

Abstract

In this research, SrFe[Formula: see text]Ni[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] (x [Formula: see text] 0 − 1) hexagonal ferrites were prepared by sol-gel auto-combustion method. Effect of Ni substitution on structural, morphological and magnetic properties of nanoparticles was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The XRD results confirmed that all samples with x [Formula: see text] 0.5 have single phase M-type strontium ferrite structure, whereas for the SrFe[Formula: see text]Ni[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] samples with x [Formula: see text] 0.5, the spinel NiFe2O4 phase has also appeared. The lattice parameters and crystallite sizes of the powders were concluded from the XRD data and Williamson–Hall method. Magnetic analyses showed that the coercivity of powders decreased from 5672 Oe to 639 Oe while the saturation magnetization increased from 74 emu/g to 81 emu/g with nickel substitution. The results of this study suggest that the strontium hexaferrites doped with Ni are suitable for applications in high density magnetic recording media as well as microwave devices because of their promising magnetic properties.