Synthesis and Characterization of Microwave Absorbing SrFe12O19/ZnFe2O4 Nanocomposite

Zinc ferrite and strontium hexaferrite; SrFe12O19/ZnFe2O4 (SrFe11.6Zn0.4O19) nanoparticles having super paramagnetic nature were synthesized by simultaneous co-precipitation of iron, zinc and strontium chloride salts using 5 M sodium hydroxide solution. The resulting precursors were heat treated (HT) at 850, 950 and 1150A degrees C for 4 h in nitrogen atmosphere. The hysteresis loops showed an increase in saturation magnetization from 1.040 to 58.938 emu/g with increasing HT temperatures. The 'as-synthesized' particles have size in the range of 20-25 nm with spherical and needle shapes. Further, these spherical and needle shaped nanoparticles tend to change their morphology to hexagonal plate shape with increase in HT temperatures. The effect of such a systematic morphological transformation of nanoparticles on dielectric (complex permittivity and permeability) and microwave absorption properties were estimated in X band (8.2-12.2 GHz). The maximum reflection loss of the composite reaches -26.51 dB (more than 99% power attenuation) at 10.636 GHz which suits its application in RADAR absorbing materials.