Microstructure development in novel titania-cobalt ferrite ceramic materials

The system cobalt ferrite (CFO)-titania (TO) has been studied in view to produce new in situ ceramic composites by conventional solid state reaction. To synthesize the CFO TO composite, the processing parameters are optimized to yield a reliable and repeatable homogeneous distribution of the phases. Composition, crystalline structure and microstructure of the sintered bodies were investigated by XRD, SEM, microprobe analysis; the image analysis was performed to quantify the phase volume content and grain size. The final compositions after sintering differ significantly from the starting ones as a consequence of the reaction of titania with the ferrite and the formation of a new ternary compound Fe2CoTi3O10 (FCTO). In this work we report for the first time the preparation of almost pure (about 95 vol%) single phase FCTO ceramics, its XRD patterns, and the microstructural characterization.