Combustion Synthesis of Porous NiCuZn Spinel Ferrite Hierarchies and Their Magnetic Properties

Nickel-copper-zinc (NiCuZn) spinel ferrites have attracted intensive research owing to their unique magnetic properties and low co-fire temperature. Combustion synthesis has been viewed as a promising protocol for the large-scale fabrication of NiCuZn spinel ferrites. However, the spinel ferrites prepared by this method usually suffer from limited saturation magnetization and high coercivity due to their large size, which will impose detrimental harmonics on electrical equipment (e. g., transformer, motor, etc.). To address these issues, highly porous NiCuZn spinel ferrite hierarchies were prepared within several hours through a modified solution combustion method, using glucose and ammonium nitrate as the fuel and combustion enhancer, respectively. The as-obtained NiCuZn spinel ferrite hierarchies show excellent magnetic properties with a high saturation magnetization up to 62.61 emu/g and a low coercivity of 9.6 Oe thanks to the rational distribution of cations and grain size. More importantly, this method also allows various modifications (heteroatom doping) and large-scale applications, which may be promising for the fabrication of high-performance soft magnets for electrical equipment. A series of porous NiCuZn spinel ferrite hierarchies composed of interconnected nanoparticles were prepared by a facile auto-combustion method, after sintering at high temperature, the as-obtained NiCuZn spinel ferrite hierarchies show excellent magnetic properties with a high saturation magnetization up to 62.61 emu/g and a low coercivity of 9.6 Oe.image