SiO₂-Coated Fe-Ni Alloy Core–Shell Structures Synthesized by a Facile Chemical Method

Abstract

Fe-Ni@ SiO2core–shell structured micrometer spherical particles with nanometer thick SiO2 shell were fabricated by a facile wet chemical process, their compositions and mechanisms were investigated using x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform of infra-red spectra, and their microstructures and magnetic properties were analyzed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The structure of the synthesized SiO2-coated Fe-Ni alloy particles varied with adding TEOS contents. As-prepared Fe-Ni@SiO2 composites exhibit typical soft magnetic properties. Their highest saturation magnetization approximately linear decreases from 176 emu g−1for pure Fe-Ni alloy powders to 121 emu g−1for the coated powders with 20nm amorphous silica layers, but the coercivity of all different thickness SiO2-coated Fe-Ni alloy powders maintains in the range of about 25 Oe.