An evaluation was made of the microstructure and magnetic properties of Ni0.5-xCu xZn0,5Fe2O4 ferrites with x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 prepared by combustion reaction with particle sizes 23 to 29 nm. The resulting powders were uniaxially compacted at 385 MPa into pellets and sintered at 1000 ºC/2 h. The samples were characterized by apparent density and porosity measurements, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and M-H magnetic measurements. The X-ray diffraction revealed crystalline inverse spinel as the major phase in all the specimens and a small amount of hematite (a-Fe2O3) as the secondary phase in the x = 0.1 and 0.4 samples. An increase in the amount of copper caused a slight increase in grain size (0.65 to 0.68 µm), a decrease in the apparent porosity (33.7% to 6.6%) and a reduction in saturation magnetization from 69 to 54 emu/g.
Ni-Zn ferrite; magnetic properties; microstructure
