Modification of pseudobrookite Fe1.7Mn0.3-xNixTiO5: Influence of Ni-substitution on the magnetic properties

Abstract

In this study, the synthesis of pseudobrookite Fe1.7Mn0.3-xNixTiO5 with variations in composition (x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15) using a mechanical milling technique has been performed. High purity powder of α-Fe2O3, TiO2, MnCO3, and NiO were prepared as raw materials. The mixture was milled for 5 hours using high energy milling equipment, and sintered at 1000 °C for 5 hours. The refinement result of X-ray diffraction profile shows that the all of pseudobrookite Fe1.7Mn0.3-xNixTiO5 samples have a single phase with particle size of less than 1 μm. The VSM result shows all the samples were ferromagnetic behavior. We concluded that the substitution Ni into Mn on the pseudobrookite Fe1.7Mn0.3-xNixTiO5 can change the magnetic properties of the material from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic through a mechanism of double exchange interaction.