Synthesis of FeNi3/(Ni0.5Zn0.5)Fe2O4 nanocomposite and its high frequency complex permeability

FeNi3/(Ni0.5Zn0.5)Fe2O4 nanocomposite particles were successfully synthesized using the hydrazine reduction combined with ammonia co-precipitation ferrite coating method. The x-ray and transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that face-centred cubic-structured FeNi3 nanoparticles were coated with spinel Ni–Zn ferrite. The composite particles were nearly spherical with diameters of about 80–200 nm and exhibited typical soft magnetic properties. The saturation magnetization (Ms) of the composite was greatly improved, compared with that of traditional ferrite. With increasing ferrite content, the eddy-current loss was effectively suppressed and a notable high frequency characteristic, in which the real part μ' of the permeability was almost independent of the frequency, was observed. The imaginary part μ'' remained at an extremely low value below the frequency of 300 MHz. The cut-off frequency fr was estimated to be above 1 GHz. The highest value of μ' reached 13 when the ratio of FeNi3 to Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 was 1:1. Two peaks were observed in the permeability spectra, which may be ascribed to the ferromagnetic resonances of FeNi3 and Ni–Zn ferrite respectively.