Abstract
Fe /Fe3O4 (magnetite) powders obtained by ball milling at room temperature, undergo an incomplete redox reaction with formation of FeO. This reaction is favoured due to the high energy developed during the milling and alloying. Concurrent effects of the milling, such as grain refinement down to the nanometric scale lead at the end of the milling processes to a mixed multiphased nanopowder, with a homogeneous dispersion of Fe and Fe oxide grains. Such ferromagnetic – antiferromagnetic systems are extensively studied due to their exchange bias properties, extremely useful in technological applications. We study the phase transformation that leads to a multiphased metal / oxide microstructure with an energydispersive in-situ X-ray diffraction experiment using the synchrotron radiation. This study allows direct collection of X-ray spectra after few minutes exposure, at selected temperatures, ranging between 20°C and 1000°C. Magnetic behavior has been studied for as-milled and annealed samples and the obtained magnetic parameters are correlated to the microstructure and phase composition at each stage of annealing. A significant exchange bias effect, related to FeO content, is observed for as-milled sample, the effect being less pronounced upon annealing the nanogranular powder.
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