In this paper, strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel auto-combustion method. Effect of annealing temperature on crystal structure, morphology and magnetic properties of nanoparticles was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Also, the thermal decomposition of as-synthesized powdered samples has been studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of single phase M-type hexagonal crystal structure for powders annealed above 950 ◦ C, whereas the presence of hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) as secondary phase was also observed for sample annealed at 900 ◦ C. Furthermore, the crystallinity along with the crystallite size were augmented with annealing temperature. Comparison of the FT-IR spectra of the samples before and after annealing treatment showed the existence of metal–oxygen stretching modes after annealing. The thermogravimetric analysis confirmed the thermal decomposition of as-burnt powders happened in three-stage degradation process. The TEM images showed the nanoparticles like hexagonal-shaped platelets as the size of nanoparticles increases by increasing the annealing temperature. With increasing annealing tempera- ture, the magnetic saturation and the coercivity were increased to the maximum value of 74.26 emu/g and 5.67 kOe for sample annealed at 1000 ◦ C and then decreased.

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