The effect of molar ratio on structural and magnetic properties of BaFe12O19 nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel auto-combustion method

Nanocrystalline particles of barium hexaferrite has been prepared by the sol–gel auto- combustion method using iron and barium nitrate with a Ba:Fe molar ratio of 1:10. The effect of fuel such as citric acid and aspartic acid was investigated on the structure and magnetic properties of nanoparticles. The results revealed that the formation of barium hexaferrite fine particles is influenced by molar ratio of metal nitrates to fuel. The formation of pure crystallized BaFe12O19 nanoparticles occurred when the precursor was heat-treated at 900°C for 2 h. Nanoparticles of barium hexaferrite with average crystalline size between 60-69 nm has been obtained. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were employed to identify the structural phases, surface morphology and magnetic properties of the prepared nanoparticles, respectively. Magnetic measurements showed that the BaFe12O19 nanoparticles exhibited a great coercive field and high saturation magnetization of up to 5100 Oe and 55 emu g-1, respectively.