Exchange coupled magnetic nanocomposites of Sm(Co1−xFex)5 / Fe3O4 with core/shell structure

Magnetic nanocomposites of Sm(Co1−xFex)5/Fe3O4 (x≈0.1) with the core/shell type structure were successfully fabricated using a two-step polyol process, where as-prepared SmCo5(1−x) nanoparticles were used as seeds for the ferrite coating. The core/shell composites are quite stable in air and show a typical hysteric behavior of single component, yielding an enhanced coercivity of 2.2 kOe with a saturated magnetization of 130 emu/g at 5 T. The magnetization data clearly reveal the presence of effective exchange coupling between the hard-magnetic Sm(Co1−xFex)5 core and soft-magnetic Fe3O4 shell, suggestive of a single-phase structure rather than a distinctive two-phase one.