Annealing effects on the microstructure, magnetism and microwave-absorption properties of Fe/TiO2 nanocomposites

To overcome the problems of Fe nanowires and obtain an outstanding material for the applications of magnetic recording and microwave absorption. Fe/TiO2 core/shell nanowire arrays were fabricated by a controllable two-step electrodeposition technique using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane as the template. The influences of annealing on the microstructure, magnetism and microwave-absorption properties of the arrays were studied. It was demonstrated experimentally that the partial crystallization of amorphous TiO2 and the polycrystalline structure of TiO2 originating from annealing enhanced the microwave-absorption properties of Fe/TiO2 core/shell nanowire arrays. We also found that the nanowire arrays with small diameter exhibited more obvious magnetic anisotropy. Our study shows that Fe/TiO2 core/shell nanowire arrays can be used for the applications of magnetic recording and microwave absorption.