Influence of the preparation methods on the structure and magnetic properties of nanosized Al-substituted barium hexaferrite powders

We report studies on the correlation between the method of preparation, microstructure and magnetic properties of nanosized monodomain Al-substituted barium hexaferrite (BaAlFe11O19) powders. The powders were obtained by the co-precipitation and single microemulsion methods. The particles in the samples had a size between 80 nm and 135 nm depending on the synthesis conditions. The value of the saturation magnetization Ms measured was very high, namely, 66.12 emu/g. The hysteresis loop was very narrow, with the coercivity Hc being 163 Oe, which indicated that the particles were in a near-superparamagnetic state.