Proper pH value enhances giant magneto-impedance effect of FINEMET/rGO composite ribbons by electroless plating

Abstract Electromagnetic interaction in composite structure materials has been a crucial physical mechanism to optimize magnetic property of magnetic devices. In this paper, the composite ribbons of FINEMET coated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were successfully prepared by electroless plating method at different pH values. The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the FINEMET/rGO composite ribbons were characterized by X-Ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, giant magneto-impedance (GMI) analysis and vibrating sample magnetometer techniques, respectively. The results showed that the peak position field of composite ribbon first decreases and then increases with the variation of pH value, which indicated that there may be existed electromagnetic interaction and stress between rGO and the FINEMET ribbon. The electromagnetic interaction may lead to the redistribution of current density and the change of skin depth. An interpretation in terms of electromagnetic interaction between rGO and FINEMET ribbon was proposed, which provided a new perspective for analyzing the variation in GMI effect of composite materials.