Magnetic and mechanical characterisation of natural rubber coprecipitated barium ferrite composites at high loading

Abstract

The influence of coprecipitated barium ferrite (BaF) on the magnetic and mechanical properties of natural rubber–ferrite composites (RFCs) has been studied. Unusual characteristics of the BaF particles were revealed by a scanning electron microscope. The results show that the saturation magnetisation increases with increasing the ferrite content even for the considerably high BaF loading samples, whereas the coercivity is almost unchanged. The present RFCs recorded relatively low density 1·95 g cm⁻³ with high stored energy 1·26 MGOe at the maximum BaF loading of 220 phr. Both of the tensile strength and the elongation at break decrease with increasing BaF content. Evaluation of the swelling ratio was carried out to have an insight into the change in the mechanical properties of the RFCs at high BaF loading.