The low-temperature deposition of BaNi_(2-x)Co_xFe₁₆O₂₇ thin films with a Ba hexaferrite structure for electromagnetic shielding was studied. The BaNi_(2-x)Co_xFe₁₆O₂₇ thin films produced through the spin spray process were suitable for thin film deposition on a flexible substrate because it crystallized well at low temperature below 90℃. The change in shielding characteristics depending on the Co content of the BaNi_(2-x)Co_xFe₁₆O₂₇ thin film was investigated, and excellent shielding characteristics with S21 of -1 dB were obtained in a wide frequency range of 26~40 GHz when the Co content was 0.4 or more. The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in shielding properties caused by change in Co content in relation to phase changes in BaNi_(2-x)Co_xFe₁₆O₂₇ and obtain basic data for developing excellent flexible electromagnetic wave shielding materials.

Multiferroics exhibiting the coexistence and a possible coupling of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric order are attracting widespread interest in terms of academic interests and possible applications. However, room-temperature single-phase multiferroics with soft ferromagnetic and displacive ferroelectric properties are still rare owing to the contradiction in the origin of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity. In this study, we demonstrated that sizable ferromagnetic properties are induced in the ferroelectric bismuth ferrite-barium titanate system simply by introducing Co ions into the A-site. It is noted that all modified compositions exhibit well-saturated magnetic hysteresis loops at room temperature. Especially, 70Bi_0.95Co_0.05FeO₃-30Ba_0.95Co_0.05TiO₃ manifests noticeable ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties; the spontaneous polarization and the saturation magnetization are 42 μC/㎠ and 3.6 emu/g, respectively. We expect that our methodology will be widely used in the development of perovskite-structured multiferroic oxides.

The rod-shaped Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ particles were synthesized via a topotactic reaction, in which goethite (α-FeOOH) particles are the main constituents. The phases, microstructures and magnetic properties of these particles were studied using XRD, FE-SEM and VSM. The precursor solution consisted of NiSO₄·xH₂O, ZnSO₄·xH₂O, goethite and D.I. water werereacted at four different temperatures (50, 70, 90, 100℃) to generate four differently precipitated particles respectively. During the co-precipitation reaction, the pH of the solution was maintained at 8.0 using NaOH. The particles coprecipitated and calcined at a temperature of 700℃, exhibited a rod-shape similar to its original goethite, which means that the shape of Ni-Zn ferrite particles can be topotactically controlled by the goethite. The particles synthesized at 70 and 90℃ have a saturation magnetization of 29 and 35 emu/g respectively; representing better values than the ones synthesized at the 50 and 100℃, in which some second phases such as Fe₂O₃ were observed.

It is necessary for ferrite sheets to be fabricated with high packing density for excellent electrical properties and high strength. In this study, the relationship between the warpage and the packing density of ferrite green sheet, was investigated with amount variation of organic additives. With 0.4 wt% of dispersant, the packing density was about 48% and warpage appeared 0.5~1.3 ㎜ high. With 1.4 wt% of dispersant, the packing density increased up to 57% and warpage appeared 0.8~2.1 ㎜ high. With high packing density, warpage appeared along the edges of specimen, while with low packing density, deformation appeared over whole specimen inhomogeneously. It is thought that inhomogeneous deformation after sintering came from the inhomogeneity in green sheet prepared with badly dispersed slurry. With good homogeneity in green sheet from well-dispersed slurry, isotropic shrinkage is thought to have occurred along the distance from center to edges of specimen during sintering.

Recently, many lead-free piezoelectric materials have been investigated for the replacement of existing Pb-based piezoelectric ceramics because of globally increasing environmental interest. There has been remarkable improvement in piezoelectric properties of some lead-free ceramics such as (Bi, Na) Ti03-(Bi, K) Ti03-BaTiO3, (Na, K) Nb03-LiSbO3, and so on. However, no one still has comparable piezoelectric properties to lead-based materials. Therefore, new lead-free piezoelectric ceramics are required. BiFeO3 has a rhombohedrally distorted perovskite structure at room temperature and a very high Curie temperature (Tc=1,100 K). And a very large electric polarization of 50~60 uC/cm2 has been reported both in epitaxial thin film and single crystal BiFeO3. Therefore, a high piezoelectric effect is expected also in a BiFeO3 ceramics. The recent research activities on BiFeO3 or BiFeO3-based solid solutions are reviewed in this article.

We have been studied the effects of oxidant on the properties of Sr-ferrite magnets using mill scale for motor. The small-added (0.5 wt%) NaNO3 oxidant improved significantly the degree of oxidation and the grindability of mill scale, and then highly enhanced the magnetic properties of anisotropic Sr-ferrite sintered magnets; such as the remanent flux density from 3.55 to 3.80 kG, the intrinsic coercivity from 2.75 to 3.22 kOe, and the maximum energy product from 2.90 to 3.45 MGOe.