Open AccessSynthesis and Characterizations of Fe3O4 Added with Al2O3 Nanoparticles via Sol-Gel Technique
Author(s) -
MohdShahadan Mohd Şuan,
Chew Ke Chin,
Jeefferie Abd Razak,
Hazman Hasib,
MohdAsyadi ‘Azam Mohd Abid,
Irwan Nurdin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/957/1/012040
Subject(s) - materials science , calcination , nanoparticle , crystallite , sol gel , nucleation , nanocrystalline material , analytical chemistry (journal) , nuclear chemistry , chemical engineering , mineralogy , metallurgy , chemistry , nanotechnology , chromatography , organic chemistry , engineering , catalysis , biochemistry
A single step sol-gel has been established as a new route for synthesizing AkCb-added Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles. In this work, the effects of Al 2 O 3 composition towards the micro structure and magnetic properties of AkCb-added Fe 3 O 4 samples were investigated. A series of Fe and Al nitrate mixture solutions were prepared by varying the Al nitrate composition from 2.0 wt. % to 10.0 wt. %. A dropwise of propylene oxide has dimed out the clear red mixture solution with a significant release of heat before turned into a gel. The gel was dried at 90 °C for 48 h in a ventilated oven which then pulverized into a powder by using mortar grinder. The powder was calcinated at 900 °C for 1 h in a normal furnace atmosphere. The XRD results revealed that the existence of polycrystalline Fe 3 O 4 were completed at calcination temperature 900 °C. The SEM images of the Fe 3 O 4 with 10.0 wt.% of Al 2 O 3 samples showed a distinct nanoparticles micro structure due to the increased of Fe 3 O 4 nucleation initiated by Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles. The Vickers microhardness of the Al 2 O 3 added Fe 3 O 4 samples were significantly increased as the Al 2 O 3 content was increased up to 10.0 wt.% attributed from good distribution of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles in the sample. Subsequently, the magnetic properties of Fe 3 O 4 investigated by alternating gradient magnetometer, AGM was insignificantly reduced by the addition of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles. This work indicated that the sol-gel reaction is an effective method to achieve uniform distribution and high purity of AkCb-added Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with optimum microhardness and ferromagnetic performances.