Synthesis of Superhydrophobic Barium Hexaferrite Coatings with Low Magnetic Hardness

Using the multifunctional material barium hexaferrite as an example, the prospects for treatment at a quasi-equilibrium low temperature in an open atmosphere to form superhydrophobic magnetic coatings with pronounced crystalline and magnetic anisotropy have been demonstrated for the first time. The relationship between plasma treatment conditions, structural-phase composition, morphology, and superhydrophobic properties of (0001) films of barium hexaferrite BaFe₁₂O₁₉ on C-sapphire is studied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), as well as magnetometry and moisture resistance analysis, were used as research methods. During plasma treatment with a mass-average temperature of 8-10 kK, intense evaporation and surface melting were observed, and texturing of the deposit along (0001) is found. When the treatment temperature was reduced to 4-5 kK, the evaporation of the material was minimized and magnetic and crystal anisotropy increased. However, the increase in the size of crystallites was accompanied by the transition of oxygen atoms from lattice nodes to interstitial positions. All samples exhibited low coercive fields below 500 Oe, associated with the frustration of the magnetic subsystem. Features of growth of materials with a wurtzite structure were used to form a superhydrophobic coating of barium hexaferrite. Plasma treatment regimes for obtaining self-cleaning coatings are proposed. The use of magnetically hard barium hexaferrite to radically change the properties of a coating is demonstrated herein as an example.