Effect of Cu2+ on the magnetic properties and reducibility of Fe2TiO5

Ferrites have been studied for several years due to their wide use as magnetic materials for telecommunications, audio and video, power transformers and many other applications. Equimolar mixtures of Fe2O3 and TiO2 were fired in a muffle furnace at 1200 °C for 4 h. Mixed samples were prepared by replacing TiO2 with calculated amounts of CuO (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 mol). The synthesized samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction and their magnetic properties were measured using vibrating-sample magnetometer. The microstructure of the sample was examined using reflected light microscope and scanning electron microscope. The formation of Fe2TiO5, Fe5CuO8, Cu2TiO3 and CuFeO2 phases were detected whereas their magnetic properties increased with increasing the added mole ratio of Cu2+ ions. The isothermal reduction kinetics of synthesized nanocrystallites Ti–Cu mixed ferrite compacts were studied at 500 °C using hydrogen gas. It was found that the reduction rate and the reduction extent increased with increasing the extent of Cu2+ (0.2–1) whereas the maximum reduction extent (100%) was detected for pure Cu ferrite (Cu2+) while the minimum reduction extent (12%) was detected for pure iron titanate (Cu2+ = 0). The magnetic properties showed a drastic improvement upon reduction with hydrogen gas.