Effect of heat treatment on structure and magnetic properties of FeCoNi/CNTs nanocomposites

Fe₄₆Co₃₅Ni₁₉/CNTs nanocomposites have been prepared by an easy two-step route including adsorption and heat treatment processes. We investigated the effect of heat treatment conditions on structure, morphology, nanoparticle sizes and magnetic properties of the Fe₄₆Co₃₅Ni₁₉ alloy nanoparticles attached on the carbon nanotubes by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-disperse X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). When the reducing temperature changes from 300–450°C, a transition of the crystalline structure from bcc phase to fcc-bcc dual phase and an increase in particle size of Fe₄₆Co₃₅Ni₁₉ nanoparticles together with a local maximum at 350°C are observed. Meanwhile, the saturation magnetization (M _s) for Fe₄₆Co₃₅Ni₁₉ nanoparticles increases with the increase of reducing temperature and the coercivity (H _c) decreases rapidly with a local minimum at 350°C. When the reducing time (tr) changes from 2–5 h, bcc phase is predominant in the Fe₄₆Co₃₅Ni₁₉ alloy particles. Both the particle size and M _s have a maximum at tr = 3 h, and the H _c reaches a maximum at tr = 4 h.