Growth of self-textured barium hexaferrite ceramics by normal sintering process and their anisotropic magnetic properties

In this report a simple and low-cost technique for growing highly textured barium hexaferrite ceramics without the need for flux or seed crystals to achieve grain orientation is demonstrated. Plate-like shaped barium hexaferrite particles were synthesized using a solid-state reaction process and then aligned under a weak magnetic field, followed by uniaxial compaction. The aligned hexaferrite particles appear to serve as seeds, forming textured grains during sintering. The development of texture was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. The prepared high-quality hexaferrite ceramics exhibited good anisotropic magnetic properties, comparable to those of single crystal counterparts. A mechanism for the formation of the self-textured grain growth of the barium hexaferrite ceramics, which involves grain boundary and lattice diffusion and interface reaction processes, is proposed. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.