Effects of Annealing on Phase Evolution, Microstructure, and Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline Ball-Milled LiZnTi Ferrite

The influence of milling and subsequent annealing on the phase evolution, microstructure, and magnetic properties of lithium-zinc-titanium ferrite prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) was investigated. x-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, laser particle size analysis (LPSA), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were used to characterize the prepared Li0.4Zn0.4Ti0.2Fe2O4 compound. The crystallite size of single-phase LZT ferrite was 12 nm after 40 h of milling, being increased to 38 nm after annealing at 650A degrees C for 3 h. The magnetic properties of the milled nanostructured powder were extensively affected by the annealing temperature. Single-phase Li0.4Zn0.4Ti0.2Fe2O4 was formed by subsequent heat treatments of the as-milled powder at 650A degrees C, which is lower than the temperature associated with the conventional ceramic procedure.