Structural and magnetic characteristic of novel method of Fe/sub 2/O/sub 3//spl rArr/Fe/sub 3/O/sub 4/ reduction by magnetomechanical activation

A magnetomechanical activation technique has been used to produce fine particles of magnetite from hematite. The phase transformation of Fe/sub 2/O/sub 3/ into Fe/sub 3/O/sub 4/ was effected at room temperature by wet milling in vacuum. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods were used to find detailed information on the crystallography and morphology of magnetite formation as a function of processing time. A correlation was established between magnetic hysteresis parameters and the observed crystal structure evolution.<
>