Magnetic and optical properties of Gd-Tl substituted M-type barium hexaferrites synthesized by co-precipitation technique

The substitution of numerous cations into hexagonal ferrite has been extensively used to endow novel properties and functionalities for various applications. In the present work Gd-Tl substituted barium hexaferrites prepared by co-precipitation process, having the composition Ba0.75Cu0.25(GdxTl0.5-x)Fe11.5O19 (x=0.0, 0.25 and 0.50). The hexaferrite formation during calcination of sample x=0.25 was confirmed by TGA/DSC which was processed at 1000 °C for 3 h. The analysis of X-ray diffraction depicts the existence of magneto-plumbite structure with the formation of a minor secondary α–Fe2O3 phase x≤0.0 and BaFe2O4 phase x≤0.50. UV–Vis spectra reveal the dropping down behavior in the optical energy band gap from 2.47 eV to 1.74 eV. The grains with hexagonal platelet-like shape having size of 0.415–0.446 μm of magnetic powder nanoparticles (MPs) are observed by SEM images. The energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis was employed for presence of ferrite elements within a single particle. Hysteresis loops signifies the magnetization (Ms) and remnant magnetization (Mr) first increases up to x=0.25 then reduces with the substitution (x) increment; contrarily, the coercivity (Hc) exhibited initially decreased with maximum content of Tl at x=0.0 then increases at x=0.25 after that it decreases at x=0.50. Maximum values such as Ms (51.727 emu/g), Mr (28.061 emu/g), and Hc (4.057 kOe) are attained for x=0.25 at room temperature. The synthesized magnetic nanoparticles are found to be suitable for microwave absorbing materials, permanent magnets, catalyst, high density recording media and optoelectronic devices.