Synthesis of Hexaferrite-Based SrFe12O19/Fe-Co Nanocomposites

Hexaferrite-based nanocomposites were prepared by a powder metallurgical method using a mixture of SrFe
12
O
19
powder as a hard phase and Fe-Co alloy nanopowder as a soft one at a volume fraction of SrFe
12
O
19
:Fe-Co= 90:10. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that heating a mixture of the two powders in a vacuum at 773 K for 3 h leads to fabricating SrFe
12
O
19
/Fe-Co nanocomposites without severe reaction between the two phases. Elemental mapping using a scanning electron microscope with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy devise confirmed a uniform mixture of the SrFe
12
O
19
powder and Fe-Co nanopowder. The room-temperature magnetization measurements gave rise to a slight increase in saturation magnetization (53.2 emu/g) compared to the value obtained from pure SrFe
12
O
19
powder. The magnetic coercivity of the SrFe
12
O
19
/Fe-Co nanocomposites was 2.0 kOe, comparable to that of the pure SrFe
12
O
19
powder.