Mechanical and functional properties in magnetic materials

Abstract

This doctoral Thesis has been focused on the preparation of magnetic materials by different methods, the characterization of their structural characteristics, and the understanding of their mechanical and magnetic properties. Furthermore, a big effort has been paid to investigate the frequency-dependent functional properties of different materials, which are increasingly demanded in novel technological applications. Moreover, this work presents this characterization in a wide range of frequencies, from the kHz to the THz. In the first chapter, the reader will find an introduction to the topic and the state of the art of those materials that have been synthesized and developed in this Thesis. Then, the general goals of our research are described. Chapter II provides all the needed fundamental theory to accomplish with the previously stated goals. The concepts exposed here will be used later in the following chapters where the results will be shown and discussed. Moreover, this chapter does not only pretend to give the essential notions used in the following chapter, but we also aim to provide a useful guide to anyone who starts working on this field. All the materials, devices, software, and experimental conditions used in this Thesis are described in Chapter III. Here, we describe these aspects in detail in order to allow an agile discussion in the following chapters. The first experimental chapter is Chapter IV, where the synthesis of copper ferrite nanoparticles by mean of sol-gel and co-precipitation is described. The sol-gel process is optimized through of design of experiments (DoE) approach. The results of the mechanical and magnetic characterization of solid pellets fabricated with the previously synthesized nanoparticles are also shown in this chapter. Finally, by using statistical methods a direct experimental correlation between the mechanical and magnetic properties is found in this material. Another material, a carbon nanotube–based nanocomposite, is studied in Chapter V. This novel material is first structurally characterized in order to understand its magnetic properties. A big effort is paid on the study of the magnetic relaxation of this material, which has not been previously reported as far as we know. The investigation of soft magnetic materials (SMM) and composites (SMC) can be found in Chapter VI. The actual SMCs are first structurally and magnetically characterized. Their magnetic properties in the kHz and MHz frequency range are also investigated, showing the better performance of the SMC at high frequencies. In the second part of the chapter, the development on new SMC’s formulations is described. The developed materials are potentially useful for applications in the kHz and MHz frequency range. The frequency is raised in Chapter VII. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is used to investigate the optical and dielectric properties of two different semiconductor oxides from 180 GHz to 3 THz. The signal processing and the interpretation of the effect that different characteristics of the sample may have on the observed properties are discussed. In this chapter, magnetic materials are not investigated because the Fresnel

model – which is the base of this technique - assumes a non-magnetic response of the material. The work described in Chapter VIII is completely different from the previous ones. In this case, we investigate the manipulation of the magnetic moments by using surface acoustic waves (SAWs). The experiments done in this chapter lead to interesting observation about the potentiality of the use of SAWs to accelerate the magnetic moment reversal in magnetic nanoparticles.

Esta Tesis Doctoral se centra en el estudio de materiales magnéticos en su conjunto, tanto desde la síntesis hasta sus propiedades mecánicas y funcionales finales. Además, ha habido un especial interés en el estudio de las propiedades funcionales en un amplio rango frecuencial. De este modo, en el primer capítulo, el lector puede encontrar una introducción al campo de investigación, así como también el estado del arte de aquellos materiales que se han sintetizado y desarrollado en esta Tesis. Por otro lado, en el Capítulo II se aportan todos los conceptos teóricos necesarios para el siguiente desarrollo de la Tesis. Además, los materiales, dispositivos, software y condiciones experimentales utilizados durante el desarrollo de esta investigación están descritos en el Capítulo III. El Capítulo IV es la primera parte experimental de la Tesis, y en la que se describe la síntesis de nanopartículas de ferrita de cobre vía sol-gel y coprecipitación. Además, se estudian las propiedades magnéticas y mecánicas en bulk, y se analiza su correlación empírica. El Capítulo V está dedicado al estudio de un nuevo material: un nanocompuesto magnético basado en nanotubos de carbono. Inicialmente se caracteriza química y estructuralmente para después centrarse en las propiedades magnéticas. Se realiza, además, un detallado estudio de su relajación magnética. Por otro lado, en el Capítulo VI, se investigan materiales magnéticos blandos. Inicialmente se analizan los materiales actualmente utilizados, mientras que en una segunda parte se desarrollan nuevas formulaciones con interesantes propiedades tecnológicas. En el Capítulo VII se presenta el estudio de las propiedades ópticas y dieléctricas en el rango de los THz. Se describe detalladamente el método, análisis de señal, y efecto de las características físicas de la muestra sobre la medida. Finalmente, también se propone un método para cuantificar el efecto de la porosidad de las muestras. Por último, el Capítulo VIII se investiga la manipulación del momento magnético mediante estímulos mecánicos como las ondas acústicas superficiales (SAW, en inglés). Se observa una clara variación experimental con la aplicación de las SAWs, y se relaciona matemáticamente esta variación con la frecuencia y potencia de las SAWs.