Multiferroics are materials in which two or all three of the properties, ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, and ferroelasticity occur in the same phase. In particular, multiferroic magnetoelectrics represent the materials that are simultaneously ferromagnetic and ferroelectric, with or without ferroelasticity. Specifically, the hematite (alpha-Fe2O3)-alumina (alpha-Al2O3) system has been studied, mainly due to its potential applications in metallurgy and as catalyst of ammonia synthesis. However, compounds of this system also may present magnetoelectric effects. In this work, a structural study of the high-energy ball milled and annealed (alpha-Fe2O3 )0.25(alpha-Al2O3)0.75 compound was carefully conducted. The samples were characterized through X-ray diffraction, Rietveld structural refinement and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The determination and identification of crystallographic phases, lattice parameters and unit cell volume in as-milled and annealed samples allowed verifying structural parameters change, the spinel phase formation and possible relative deformations due to the high-energy ball milling process.
high-energy ball milling; Rietveld method; Mössbauer spectroscopy
