Structural and magnetic properties of SmCo/Co nanocomposites elaborated using sol-gel auto-combustion strategy

Sm-Co nanomagnetic material has received much attention recently since it is thought to be the next generation of permanent magnets with potential uses in energy technologies. Here, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is utilized for the first time as a fuel source in a sol-gel auto-combustion process to synthesize Sm-Co nanoparticles. Then, reduction-diffusion process strategy followed the auto-combustion pathway. Typically, Sm2O3 and Co3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by combining Sm and Co nitrates with the chelating agent EDTA. The Sm-Co nanocomposites were subsequently created by reductively annealing precursor oxides using calcium powder. To display the temperature-dependent breakdown of the original precursor and determine the correct annealing temperature, TGA was employed to identify the annealing temperature and the precursor products. Additionally, other physical characterization techniques such as XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, and VSM were used for further investigations. Three distinct Sm1Cox compositions with different cobalt ratios (x = 4.0, 3.5, and 2.0) were prepared and studied. The findings demonstrate that the composition Sm1Cox (x = 2.0) led to the formation of hard phases of SmCo5, Sm2Co7, and Sm2Co17. These particles' morphology reveals that they are made up of nanowires with an average thickness of 25 nm. As well, according to the VSM findings, this composite had the highest coercivity Hc and a maximum squareness ratio Mr/Ms, which were 2161 Oe and 0.57, respectively.