Thermo-magnetic properties of Fe2O3-doped lithium zinc silicate glass-ceramics for magnetic applications

The crystallization behaviour and thermo-magnetic characteristics of glass-ceramic based on the 15Li₂O–20ZnO–10CaO–55SiO₂ system doped with varied Fe₂O₃ additions (0.0125, 0.025, and 0.05 mol) are described in this work. In some cases, Al₂O₃ was also added to the iron-containing sample. Glasses were successfully prepared by melt-quenching technique and converted into glass-ceramics by controlled heat-treatment, using DTA, SEM, XRD, and VSM techniques. The density, thermal expansion coefficients (TCE), and magnetic characteristics of the glass-ceramic were examined. XRD results confirmed characteristic peaks for various phases like quartz, Li₂ZnSiO₄, wollastonite, Li₂Si₂O₅, ZnFe₂O₄, and β-spodumene. By doping Fe₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ with lowering annealing temperature, the particle size was reduce, resulting in glass-ceramics with a more uniform and dense microstructure. The density of glass-ceramics rises from 2.74 g/cm³ to 3.45 g/cm³, whereas the TCE values in average 14–78 × 10^?7/°C with temperature range of 25–500 °C. The doped glass-ceramics have superior magnetic properties with saturation magnetization (0.143–0.548 emu/g), the coercivity force (65.116–86.359 G), and remanence magnetization (0.074–0.436 emu/g). Under an alternating magnetic field, the presence of the Zn-ferrite phase in the glass-ceramics improves their magnetic properties and increases their heat-generating capability. Certain features of the doped glass-ceramics control the extensive variety of possibilities for their usage in various magnetic applications particularly for cancer hyperthermia treatment.