On the microstructural and magnetic properties of fine-grained CoFe2O4 ceramics produced by combining polyol process and spark plasma sintering

Starting from polyol-made CoFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles of different aggregation states, high-density fine-grained ceramics were produced using Spark Plasma Sintering technique at 600 and 500 °C, under vacuum and applying a uniaxial pressure of more than 80 MPa. The grain growth of thus produced ceramics appears to be proportional to the temperature plateau and inversely proportional to the aggregation state of the initial powders. Average grain sizes ranging between about 50 and 350 nm were obtained. In all the cases, magnetic measurements evidenced a ferrimagnetic behavior at room temperature with non-zero coercivity, while their starting powders exhibited superparamagnetic features.