Chemical synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Fe-Co alloys

Synthesis and some properties of Fe-Co alloys have been studied. Fe100-xCox powders were prepared by the reduction reactions involving the reduction of a mixture of iron sulphate and cobalt chloride with hydrazine-hydrate. The structure and magnetic properties were investigated by using X-ray diffraction and measurements of the saturation magnetization and the coercivity, respectively. In the system Fe-Co, solid solutions were formed. The steady-state grain size approximate to 5-20 nm. The maximum saturation magnetization of 207 and 215 A.m(2)/kg was achieved at 300 and 5 K, respectively. Nanocrystalline Fe-Co alloys have been shown to exhibit a hard magnetic behavior. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.