Superparamagnetism and Magneto-Caloric Effect (Mce) in Functional Magnetic Nanostructures
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398Rev.Adv.Mater.Sci. 10 (2005) 398-402 Srikanth Hariharan and James Gass SUPERPARAMAGNETISM AND MAGNETO-CALORIC EFFECT (MCE) IN FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC NANOSTRUCTURES Srikanth Hariharan and James Gass Materials Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA Received: May 25, 2005 Abstract. Magnetic nanoparticles exhibit superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic behaviors con- trolled by the particle size and interactions. While monodisperse nanoparticles are of interest from fundamental science perspective, functional nanostructures involve dispersion of particles in host matrices such as polymers. We discuss synthesis and magnetism of polymer nanocomposites based on PMMA with embedded Fe O nanoparticles. An interesting applica- 3 4 tion of nanoparticle assemblies is in magneto-caloric effect (MCE) that has the potential for local cooling/heating of NEMS and MEMS devices. We have studied MCE in CoFe O nanoparticles by 2 4 measuring family of M-H curves at set temperature intervals and calculated the entropy change (∆S) for this system. 1. INTRODUCTION ogy, electromagnetic devices [2,3]. For example, the lack of magnetic hysteresis coupled with high Magnetic nanoparticles behave very differently from saturation magnetization is highly desirable in RF bulk or thin film systems. When the size of the and microwave magnetic applications as the mag- particles is reduced below the single domain limit netic losses are considerably reduced. In addition, (~15 to 20 nm for iron oxide), they exhibit the granular and disconnected nature of nanoparticle superparamagnetism at room temperature followed assemblies prevents eddy current losses too. by a spin-glass like transition at low temperature For device applications, since particles are gen- [1]. Superparamagnetism is essentially a result of erally dispersed in a non-magnetic (conducting or non-interacting, thermally fluctuating nanoparticle non-conducting) matrix, it is important to investigate moments where the particle volume dependent ef- the collective magnetic response and possible influ- fective anisotropy energy (KV) of each particle is ence of the matrix itself. It is well known that in easily overcome by the thermal energy (k T). The B polymer host matrices, nanoparticle agglomeration effect of this is that the nanoparticles have a large and magnetic interactions can affect the overall prop- moment with high saturation magnetization (as erties to a great extent [4-6]. Many attractive prop- expected in ferromagnets) but a non-hysteretic M- erties of polymers like non-corrosiveness, light H curve with zero remanence and coercivity. weight, mechanical strength and dielectric tunability Superparamagnetic particles have a number of ap- can be utilized along with novel magnetic and opti- plications in fields as varied as biomedical technol- Corresponding author: Srikanth Hariharan, e-mail: [email protected] © 2005 Advanced Study Center Co. Ltd. Superparamagnetism and magneto-caloric effect (MCE) in functional magnetic nanostructures 399 cal properties of nanoparticles to make multifunc- ing their attraction to a bar magnet, the particles in tional materials. Inclusion of ferromagnetic or solution were coated with oleic acid. The surfac- superparamagnetic nanoparticles in polymers is tant-coated nanoparticles were suspended in hex- especially important as magnetic nanoparticles have ane and further centrifuged to separate any agglom- shown promise in various potential applications like erated clusters and/or particles of larger size out. spin-polarized devices, carriers for drug delivery, To prepare polymer nanocomposite thin films, 5% magnetic recording media, high-frequency applica- poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) by weight was tions, etc. dissolved in chlorobenzene and vigorously stirred Another area where there is relatively little work for a few hours, until it is all dissolved. The Fe O 3 4 is in exploring the possibility of refrigeration using nanoparticles coated with oleic acid were added and the magneto-caloric effect (MCE) in nanoparticle sonicated to facilitate uniform dispersion. The solu- clusters or assemblies [7]. While the concept of tion was spun coat onto substrates at 4000 rpm magnetic refrigeration has been around for a long which yielded films of about 2 microns thickness. time, lack of easily processable materials have lim- One of our goals was to spin coat a layer of con- ited the effectivness of this approach to very low ducting polymer (polypyrrole) on top to form a bi- temperatures. MCE is an inherent property of all layer. The reason for a conducting polymer sheath magnetic materials and is due to the coupling of was to develop all-polymer layered structures that the magnetic sublattice with the external applied integrate electromagnetic interference (EMI) sup- field. The discovery of giant MCE in Gd (Si Ge ) pression capabilities for RF applications. The 5 x 1-x 4 alloys [8] with promising refrigeration characteris- polypyrrole layer is non-magnetic and does not in- tics in the intermediate temperature (40K to 200K) teract with the PMMA based nanocomposite film in range has revived interest in the search for new MCE any way interfering with its magnetic response. The materials. Recently, the importance of nanoscale top panel of Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional TEM inclusions of Fe in this alloy has been discussed image of the bi-layer. The uniform dispersion of Fe O 3 4 by Provenzano et al. [9]. Their results indicate that nanoparticles is clearly evident in the bottom PMMA the magnetic entropy change is enhanced and also layer and it is important to note that individual par- pushed to near room temperature in Fe containing ticles are clearly resolved with very little clustering systems in addition to reduction in hysteretic observed. This is quite significant as it is a chal- losses. There have also been investigations of MCE lenging task to control the nanoparticle diffusion and in nanoparticle-based systems as it has been theo- avoid agglomeration during the polymerization pro- retically predicted that the entropy change could be cess [11]. Our contention is that the solvent-based enhanced in these systems [10]. technique that we employed with individual In this paper we report on two functional aspects nanoparticles coated by fatty acid and the overall of magnetic nanostructures currently being explored polymerization process assisted by vigorous soni- in our laboratory. The first is a demonstration of con- cation may be responsible for the nearly cluster- trolled nanoparticle dispersion in polymer free dispersion inside the polymer matrix. Molecu- nanocomposites exhibiting superparamagnetism lar Dynamics (MD) simulations have been particu- and the second is an analysis of MCE in the vicinity larly successful in investigating the dispersion of of the blocking temperature for chemically synthe- nanoparticles in polymers [4,12]. When the poly- sized Co-ferrite nanoparticles containing small and mer-polymer interaction strength is stronger than large size distribution. the polymer-particle interaction strength, the sys- tem potential energy is lowered by clumping the 2. SUPERPARAMAGNETIC POLYMER particles. If the interaction between the particles and NANOCOMOSITES the polymer can be increased, the particles will then disperse throughout the polymer. In our case, the Nanoparticles of Fe O were synthesized using a 3 4 oleic acid surfactant coating on the particles in- standard chemical co-precipitation method and char- creases the interaction with the polymer and thus acterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and trans- favors the process of uniform dispersion. mission electron microscopy (TEM). Analysis of the Fig. 1 also shows the magnetization vs field (M- particle size distribution showed a mean size of 11 H) measurements on the sample done using a com- nm with a standard deviation of 4 nm. We have also mercial Physical Property Measurement System further improved the size distribution using an ultra- (PPMS) from Quantum Design. M-H curves taken centrifuge and reduced the standard deviation to 2 at two temperatures (300K and 10K) are shown and nm. After confirming their magnetic nature by test- 400 Srikanth Hariharan and James Gass 3. MAGNETO-CALORIC EFFECT (MCE) IN FERRITE NANOPARTICLES MCE in conventional ferromagnetic materials is lim- ited to the entropy change associated with the spin disorder-order states achieved across the paramag- netic to ferromagnetic transition as one cools the sample below the Curie temperature (T ). The en- c tropy change in a magnetic system can be calcu- lated from the thermodynamic Maxwell relation: F ∂S I F ∂M I = (1) H H K H T K ∂ TH∂ or integrating over the field, H F ∂M I ∆S = z dH . H T K 0 ∂ H From measurements of M(H,T), the magnetic en- tropy change can be calculated. Typical values of the entropy change range in the 0.1 to 1 J/kg-K over a field of 1 or 2 Tesla. In systems exhibiting metamagnetic transitions and close coupling be- tween the magnetic and structural degrees of free- dom (such as the manganites), giant MCE with one or two orders of magnitude bigger entropy change have been reported in the vicinity of Curie tempera- Fig. 1. (Top) Cross-sectional TEM image of spun ture. However these changes do not persist over a coat PMMA/Polypyrrole bilayer films showing the broad temperature range. As indicated before, it is dispersion of Fe O nanoparticles in the PMMA somewhat cumbersome to systematically tune the 3 4 layer. (Bottom) Magnetization vs Field at room tem-