Synthesis of barium hexaferrite templated by nanocrystalline cellulose extracted from luffa acutangula fiber

Nanocrystalline cellulose templated barium hexaferrite has been prepared by sol-gel auto combustion and calcination method. Nanocrystalline cellulose template of 0, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% (w/v) were used to synthesize barium hexaferrite. The XRD pattern and TEM observation reveal the crystalline phase formation of hexagonal barium ferrite. Cellulose template changes the microstructure and properties of barium hexaferrite. Adding cellulose template of 0.5% (w/v) produce well-defined hexagonal platelet barium ferrite without impurity while adding more template result in barium hexaferrite containing hematite and excess cellulose template causing the decrease in magnetic properties. The crystallite size reduces with the addition of the cellulose template. The saturation magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy are estimated using the Law of Approach to Saturation magnetization. The maximum values of saturation magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy are 57.43 ± 0.25 emu g −1 and (4.64 ± 0.1) × 10 5 erg cm −3 .