MICROWAVE ABSORPTION STUDY OF MANGANESE FERRITE IN X-BAND RANGE PREPARED BY SOLID STATE REACTION METHOD

Abstract

A research to study the microwave absorption properties of manganese ferrite in the X-band range have been conducted by using high energy milling technique. The synthesis of manganese ferrite (Mn_1+xFe_2-xO₄) was performed using solid state reaction method with the material composition (x)MnO : (2-x) Fe₂O₃ (x = 0.25; 0.50; 0.75 and 1.0) according to the molar ratio. This powder mixture was being milled for 10 hours then sintered at 1200 °C temperature for 3 hours. Material characterization was done by using FTIR spectroscopy (Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy) to observe the functional group, XRD (X-ray diffractometer) for phase identification, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) for surface morphology observation and VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) to determine the ability of materials to absorb microwaves. Analysis by FTIR showed two absorption peaks in the range of ~ 446 and ~ 557 cm^-1 were associated with the octahedral and tetrahedral sites in structure of MnFe₂O₄. Phase identification by XRD showed that the increasing content of Mn (above x=0.25 composition) caused a single phase of MnFe₂O₄ turned into two phases (MnFe₂O₄ and Fe₂O₃), this results correspond to the SEM results which showed the morphological structure of those compositions are inhomogenous. The Absorption of microwaves was also decreased along with the increasing of Mn content. The maximum refflection loss was reached in the composition of Mn (x=0.0) which equal to ~ 82%, while for the composition of Mn (x=0.0) only reached ~ 55%.