FORMATION MECHANISM OF BaFe12O19 NANOPARTICLES PROCESSED VIA WET CHEMICAL ROUTE USING MIXED SOLVENT

Nanosize particles of barium hexaferrite were prepared by co-precipitation route using solution of iron and barium chlorides with a Fe +3 /Ba +2 molar ratio of 11. Water and a mixture of water/ethanol with volume ratio of 1:3 were used as solvents. Co-precipitated powders were calcined at various temperatures. XRD results showed that single phase barium hexaferrite forms at 900°C for sample synthesized in aqueous solution and its formation is resulted from the reaction between mainly crystalline phases, while this temperature decreased to 700°C for sample synthesized in water/ethanol solution and the formation of barium hexaferrite consists of reactions between amorphous phases with crystalline phases. SEM micrographs of the calcined samples at 800°C indicated that the morphology of particles was affected by the type of solvent. Nano size particles of barium hexaferrite with mean particle size of almost 80 nm were observed in the SEM micrograph of sample synthesized in water/ethanol solution after calcination at 800°C. Barium hexaferrite crystallites with mean size of 35 nm, which was approximately consistent with size obtained from XRD line broadening technique, could be seen in TEM image of this sample after calcination at 700°C.