Synthesis and characterization of FeAl nanoparticles by flow-levitation method

Abstract

The synthesis of high purity intermetallic FeAl nanoparticles using the flow-levitation (FL) method was reported. Iron and aluminium droplets were levitated stably at about 2 230 °C. The morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition of FeAl nanoparticles were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectrometry. The results show that the average particle size of these nanoparticles is about 34.5 nm. Measurements of the d-spacing from X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction studies confirm that the intermetallic nanoparticles have the same crystal structure (B2) as the bulk FeAl. A thin oxidation coating is formed around the particles when being exposed to air. Based on the XPS measurements, the surface coating of the FeAl nanoparticles is composed of Fe₂O₃ and FeAl₂O₄. Besides, hysteresis curve reveals that saturation magnetization (M_s) of FeAl is 1.66 A/m², and the coercivity is about 1.214×10³ A/m.

Keywords

intermetallic compound / FeAl nanoparticles / flow-levitation method

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