Researchers have synthesized and studied by a combination of soft X-ray techniques platelets of strontium hexaferrite allowing them to establish the differences and similarities between their synthesized nanostructures and commercial powders.
Most of the experiments have been performed within a collaboration among three beamlines of the ALBA Synchrotron.
Ferrites are ceramic materials usually made of large proportions of iron oxide (Fe2O3, rust) blended with small proportions of other metallic elements. These materials do not conduct electricity because they are insulators; and they are ferromagnetic, which means they can easily be magnetized or attracted to a magnet.
Strontium ferrites (SFO, SrFe12O19) in particular have a large magnetocrystalline anisotropy that gives it a high coercitivity, meaning that it is difficult to demagnetize. Since its discovery in the mid-20th century, this hexagonal ferrite has become an increasingly important material both commercially and technologically, finding a variety of uses and applications because of its low cost and toxicity. SFO has been used for permanent magnets, recording media, in telecommunications, and as a component in microwave, high-frequency and magneto-optical devices. Also, because they can be powdered and formed easily, they are finding their applications into micro and nano-types systems such as biomarkers, bio diagnostics and biosensors.
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