THE EFFECT OF HIGH ENERGY MILLING ON THE SR-HEXAFERRITE NANOCRYSTALLINE POWDER SYNTHESIZED BY A SOL-GEL AUTOCOMBUSTION METHOD
In this research SrFe 12 O 19 nanocrystalline synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method and subsequent annealing at 1000°C for 1h subjected to mechanochemical treatment in a high-energy ball mill and then re-annealing. A planetary ball mill (Fritsch Pulveristte 6) was used to mill the strontium hexaferrite powder at 300 rpm in air for 10, 20 and 40 hours. The process was studied by X-ray diffraction technique and scanning electron microscopy. The X-ray study showed that SrFe 12 O 19 phase was decomposed by milling. Strontium hexaferrite and α- Fe 2 O 3 were obtained with 10 hours milling. There were α- Fe 2 O 3 and strontium hexaferrite in XRD patterns of 20 hours milled sample. With increasing of the milling time to 40 hours, strontium hexaferrite was decomposed completely. The annealing of the 20 and 40 h milled powders at 900°C for 1h led to the formation of single phase strontium hexaferrite with smaller crystallite size compare to that of the hexaferrite powder before milling and subsequent annealing.