The impact of NiO on crystallization and thermo-magnetic properties of Li2O–NiO–P2O5 glasses as new magnetic materials

Abstract The main goal of this study is to comprehend the effect of the composition change on crystallization characteristics, thermal, physical, and magnetic properties of glasses with the general formula (35 − x ) Li 2 O − (5 + x ) NiO − 60 P 2 O 5 ( x = 5, 10, and 15 mol%). The XRD results indicated that Li 4 P 4 O 12, Li 6 P 6 O 18, Ni 2 P 2 O 7, Ni 2 P 4 O 12, and Li 3 P crystalline phases were formed in the glass ceramics. The NiO/Li 2 O replacement led to an increase in the coherence of the glass structure. Density values for the glass and glass–ceramic samples ranged from 2.38 to 2.49 g/cm 3 and from 2.41 to 2.53 g/cm 3 , respectively. Coefficients of thermal expansion CTE of the glasses were varied from 157 × 10 −7 to 96 × 10 −7 °C over the temperature range of 25–250 °C. However, CTE of the glass–ceramic was ranged from 183 × 10 −7 to 129 × 10 −7 °C over the temperature range of 25–500 °C. VSM analysis for the glasses revealed that the NiO/Li 2 O replacement led to a decrease in the magnetic parameters of the materials. Contrariwise from VSM hysteresis loops of glass–ceramic, it was found that the magnetic parameters increased with the addition NiO instead of Li 2 O. The results indicated a great potential of the prepared glasses and glass ceramics as promising soft ferromagnetic materials that can be used in different magnetic applications.