Influence of ball milling time on the microstructure and properties of prepared Fe-ZnO core-shell nanocomposite particles

The Fe-ZnO core-shell nanocomposite particles with " currant-bun " morphology were prepared from the mixture of iron carboxyl and ZnO powders by the ball milling method and were characterized by SEM, XRD, HRTEM and TG-DSC. The magnetic properties and the microwave electromagnetic parameters of the particles were measured. The results show Fe-ZnO particles have excellent antioxidation property. Data of XRD, HRTEM and SEM suggest grain sizes of Fe nanocrystals diminish to about 10nm during ball milling and the anisotropy of their surfaces enhance contrarily. The permittivity of Fe-ZnO particles is lower than that of micron iron carboxyl, but permeability is evidently higher, and specific saturation magnetization is approximate to that of micron iron carboxyl. The method provides a new route to synthesize other metal-oxide core-shell nanocomposite particles.