Two growth mechanisms in one-step fabrication of the oxide matrix for FeSiAl soft magnetic composites

Hydrolysis precipitation as a new method was used in the preparation of oxide insulation matrix for FeSiAl soft magnetic composites (SMCs). The growth and composition of the matrix can be tuned by the concentration of the Al(NO3)3 solution, reaction temperature and pH value during the hydrolysis. With optimized Al(NO3)3 concentration of 0.6 mol/L and hydrolysis temperature of 75 °C, two mechanisms have been revealed in the formation of the insulation coating depending on the pH of the Al(NO3)3 solution. When pH = 3, the coating layer contains a mixture of Al2O3 and Fe2O3, while Al2O3 and SiO2 form as the coating for pH = 8. Despite that the Al2O3 dominates for both conditions, it grows via different routes. The Al(OH)3 as the precursor forms through Al3+ hydrolysis and heterogeneous nucleation for pH = 3. With increased pH to 8, the Al3+ directly reacts with OH− to form Al(OH)3 colloidal particles which adsorb onto the surface of FeSiAl powders via electrostatic attraction. Both mechanisms give rise to satisfactory magnetic performance with high effective permeability (μe = 103.5 and 113.4) and low core loss (Pcv = 278.4 mW·cm−3 and 237.8 mW·cm−3) for pH = 3 and 8 measured at 100 mT, 50 kHz.