Structural, magnetic and electrical properties of the sol-gel prepared Li0.5Fe2.5O4 fine particles

Fine particles of lithium ferrite were synthesized by the sol-gel method. By subsequent heat treatment at different temperatures, lithium ferrites of different grain sizes were prepared. A structural characterization of all the samples was conducted by the x-ray diffraction technique. A grain size of around 12 nm was observed for Li0.5Fe2.5O4 obtained through the sol-gel method. Magnetic properties of lithium ferrite nanoparticles with grain size ranging from 12 to 32 nm were studied. Magnetization measurements showed that Li0.5Fe2.5O4 fine particles exhibit a deviation from the predicted magnetic behaviour. The as-prepared sample of lithium ferrite showed a maximum saturation magnetization of 75 emu g−1. Variation of coercivity is attributed to the transition from multi-domain to single domain nature. Dielectric permittivity and ac conductivity of all the samples were evaluated as a function of frequency, temperature and grain size. Variation of permittivity and ac conductivity with frequency reveals that the dispersion is due to the Maxwell–Wagner type interfacial polarization

Low temperature Mössbauer studies on magnetic nanocomposites

Nanocomposites with magnetic components possessing nanometric dimensions, lying in the range 1–10 nm, are found to be exhibiting superior physical properties with respect to their coarser sized counterparts. Magnetic nanocomposites based on gamma iron oxide embedded in a polymer matrix have been prepared and characterized. The behaviour of these samples at low temperatures have been studied using Mössbauer spectroscopy. Mössbauer studies indicate that the composites consist of very fine particles of g-Fe2O3 of which some amount exists in the superparamagnetic phase. The cycling of the preparative conditions were found to increase the amount of g-Fe2O3 in the matrix

Study of cyclohexanol decomposition reaction over the ferrospinels, A1−xCuxFe2O4 (A=Ni or Co and x=0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1), prepared by ‘soft’ chemical methods

Preparation of simple and mixed ferrospinels of nickel, cobalt and copper and their sulphated analogues by the room temperature coprecipitation method yielded fine particles with high surface areas. Study of the vapour phase decomposition of cyclohexanol at 300 °C over all the ferrospinel systems showed very good conversions yielding cyclohexene by dehydration and/or cyclohexanone by dehydrogenation, as the major products. Sulphation very much enhanced the dehydration activity over all the samples. A good correlation was obtained between the dehydration activities of the simple ferrites and their weak plus medium strength acidities (usually of the Brφnsted type) determined independently by the n-butylamine adsorption and ammonia-TPD methods. Mixed ferrites containing copper showed a general decrease in acidities and a drastic decrease in dehydration activities. There was no general correlation between the basicity parameters obtained by electron donor studies and the ratio of dehydrogenation to dehydration activities. There was a leap in the dehydrogenation activities in the case of all the ferrospinel samples containing copper. Along with the basic properties, the redox properties of copper ion have been invoked to account for this added activity.

Investigations on The Finite Size Effects of Some Inverse Spinels and Studies on Their Composites Based on Nitrile Rubber

Magnetism and magnetic materials have been an ever-attractive subject area for engineers and scientists alike because of its versatility in finding applications in useful devices. They find applications in a host of devices ranging from rudimentary devices like loud speakers to sophisticated gadgets like waveguides and Magnetic Random Access Memories (MRAM).The one and only material in the realm of magnetism that has been at the centre stage of applications is ferrites and in that spinel ferrites received the lions share as far as practical applications are concerned.It has been the endeavour of scientists and engineers to remove obsolescence and improve upon the existing so as to save energy and integrate in to various other systems. This has been the hallmark of material scientists and this has led to new materials and new technologies.In the field of ferrites too there has been considerable interest to devise new materials based on iron oxides and other compounds. This means synthesising ultra fine particles and tuning its properties to device new materials. There are various preparation techniques ranging from top- down to bottom-up approaches. This includes synthesising at molecular level, self assembling,gas based condensation. Iow temperature eo-precipitation, solgel process and high energy ball milling. Among these methods sol-gel process allows good control of the properties of ceramic materials. The advantage of this method includes processing at low temperature. mixing at the molecular level and fabrication of novel materials for various devices.Composites are materials. which combine the good qualities of one or more components. They can be prepared in situ or by mechanical means by the incorporation of fine particles in appropriate matrixes. The size of the magnetic powders as well as the nature of matrix affect the processability and other physical properties of the final product. These plastic/rubber magnets can in turn be useful for various applications in different devices. In applications involving ferrites at high frequencies, it is essential that the material possesses an appropriate dielectric permittivity and suitable magnetic permeability. This can be achieved by synthesizing rubber ferrite composites (RFC's). RFCs are very useful materials for microwave absorptions. Hence the synthesis of ferrites in the nanoregirne.investigations on their size effects on the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties and the incorporation of these ferrites into polymer matrixes assume significance.In the present study, nano particles of NiFe204, Li(!5Fe2S04 and Col-e-O, are prepared by sol gel method. By appropriate heat treatments, particles of different grain sizes are obtained. The structural, magnetic and electrical measurements are evaluated as a function of grain size and temperature. NiFel04 prepared in the ultrafine regime are then incorporated in nitrile rubber matrix. The incorporation was carried out according to a specific recipe and for various loadings of magnetic fillers. The cure characteristics, magnetic properties, electrical properties and mechanical properties of these elastomer blends are carried out. The electrical permittivity of all the rubber samples in the X - band are also conducted.

Microwave Absorption of Nylon 6,6 Based Polymer Ferrite Composites

Ferrite composites are magnetic composites consisting of fine particles of metal ferrites dispersed in the polymer matrix. These composites have a variety of applications as flexible magnets, pressure/photo sensors and microwave absorbers. Polymers and magnetic materials play a very important role in our day to day life. Both natural and synthetic polymers are today indispensable to mankind. The polymers, which include rubber, plastics and fibers, make life easier and more comfortable.

Texture Mineralogy and Geochemistry Of Sediments From The Coastal Plains Between Kodungallur And Chellanam Central Kerala India

The present study addresses to understand the sedimentological properties of the coasts of kodungallur and chellanam, central Kerala to bring out the relationship between the textural, mineralogical and geochemical characters with that of the respective environment. The grain size study of the beach ridge sediments from different pits has been investigated at close intervals, which enables to understand the grain size variations with depth. The sediment samples from various pits of the beach ridges indicate that the sediments range primarily from medium to very fine sand, well to moderately sorted, fine to coarse skewed and leptokurtic to platykurtic. The study area is considered as a prograding coast. Variations in grain size down the pit give three phases of beach building activities i.e.; a coarsening upward sequence in the bottom layers, a fining upward in the middle and coarsening upward in the top. Beach ridges are formed by swash built sediments with cross bedding and setting lag type sediments with seaward dipping/horizontal units. Geochemical signatures in the study area have been brought out through the analysis of major and trace elements. Iron is significantly enriched and its control over many trace elements is evident. Copper, chromium, cobalt, lithium, lead and zinc show decreasing trend with depth, while sodium, potassium,strontium,nickel and organic carbon increases. The association of many trace elements with organic carbon has also been established. Dissolution of trace elements in anoxic environment, at depth and reprecipitation in the oxic layers, at near or subsurface, are the major mechanism that brought out the variation of certain environmentally sensitive elements

Finite size effects on the electrical properties of sol–gel synthesized CoFe2O4 powders: deviation from Maxwell–Wagner theory and evidence of surface polarization effects

Fine particles of cobalt ferrite were synthesized by the sol–gel method. Subsequent heat treatment at different temperatures yielded cobalt ferrites having different grain sizes. X-ray diffraction studies were carried out to elucidate the structure of all the samples. Dielectric permittivity and ac conductivity of all the samples were evaluated as a function of frequency, temperature and grain size. The variation of permittivity and ac conductivity with frequency reveals that the dispersion is due to Maxwell–Wagner type interfacial polarization in general, with a noted variation from the expected behaviour for the cold synthesized samples. High permittivity and conductivity for small grains were explained on the basis of the correlated barrier-hopping model

Effect of Carbon Black on the Mechanical and Dielectric Properties of Rubber Ferrite Composites Containing Barium Ferrite

Fine particles of barium ferrite (BaFe12O19) were synthesized by the conventional ceramic technique. These materials were then characterized by the X-ray diffraction method and incorporated in the natural rubber matrix according to a specific receipe for various loadings of ferrite. The rubber ferrite composites (RFC) thus obtained have several applications, and have the advantage of molding into complex shapes. For applications such as microwave absorbers, these composites should have an appropriate dielectric strength with the required mechanical and magnetic properties. The N330 (HAF) carbon black has been added to these RFCs for various loadings to modify the dielectric and mechanical properties. In this article we report the effect of carbon black on the mechanical and dielectric properties of these RFCs. Both the mechanical and dielectric properties can be enhanced by the addition of an appropriate amount of carbon black

Evidence for intergranular tunnelling in polyaniline passivated α-Fe nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are of immense importance both from the fundamental and application points of view. They exhibit quantum size effects which are manifested in their improved magnetic and electric properties. Mechanical attrition by high energy ball milling (HEBM) is a top down process for producing fine particles. However, fineness is associated with high surface area and hence is prone to oxidation which has a detrimental effect on the useful properties of these materials. Passivation of nanoparticles is known to inhibit surface oxidation. At the same time, coating polymer film on inorganic materials modifies the surface properties drastically. In this work a modified set-up consisting of an RF plasma polymerization technique is employed to coat a thin layer of a polymer film on Fe nanoparticles produced by HEBM. Ball-milled particles having different particle size ranges are coated with polyaniline. Their electrical properties are investigated by measuring the dc conductivity in the temperature range 10–300 K. The low temperature dc conductivity (I–V ) exhibited nonlinearity. This nonlinearity observed is explained on the basis of the critical path model. There is clear-cut evidence for the occurrence of intergranular tunnelling. The results are presented here in this paper

Magnetic and processability studies of nitrile rubber vulcanisates containing barium ferrite and carbon black

Fine particles of barium ferrite (BaFe12O19) belonging to the M-type hexagonal ferrites were prepared by the conventional ceramic techniques. They were incorporated into a nitrile rubber matrix according to a specific recipe for various loadings to produce rubber ferrite composites (RFC). The percolation threshold is not reached for a maximum loading of 130 phr (parts per hundred rubber). Here in this paper, the magnetic properties and processability of the nitrile rubber based RFCs containing barium ferrite (BaF) and HAF carbon black is reported. The magnetic properties of the ceramic ferrite and these rubber ferrite composites were evaluated and it was found that the coercivity values of RFCs were less than that of the ceramic BaF, but remained constant with the loading of both the ferrite filler and carbon black. However, other properties like saturation magnetization and magnetic remanence increased with the loading of ferrite filler.

Effect of silver nano particles on the fluorescence quantum yield of Rhodamine 6G determined using dual beam thermal lens method

Nano structured noble metals have very important applications in diverse fields as photovoltaics, catalysis, electronic and magnetic devices, etc. Here, we report the application of dual beam thermal lens technique for the determination of the effect of silver sol on the absolute fluorescence quantum yield (FQY) of the laser dye rhodamine 6G. A 532 nm radiation from a diode pumped solid state laser was used as the excitation source. It has been observed that the presence of silver sol decreases the fluorescence quantum efficiency. This is expected to have a very important consequence in enhancing Raman scattering which is an important spectrochemical tool that provides information on molecular structures. We have also observed that the presence of silver sol can enhance the thermal lens signal which makes the detection of the signal easier at any concentration.