Synthesis of Fe3O4/FeO/CoNi composite material and study of its magnetic properties

Fe3O4/FeO/CoNi composite materials were produced using a two-step process. In the first step, oxide precursor was produced at low temperature by wet-synthesis based Pechini method. In the second step, the precursor was heated to 500, 600, 700 or 800 °C under reducing hydrogen gas and metal/oxide composite material was obtained. The structural, morphological and magnetic properties of materials produced at different temperatures were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and vibrating sample magnetometer. Sudden changes in magnetic properties were observed during transition from 600 °C to 700 °C. The saturation magnetization doubled while coercive force was halved. These changes were explained with the crystallization of magnetic CoNi phase from an amorphous state and nearly doubling of particle size of Fe3O4 phase