Magnetic
materials are ubiquitous in electric devices and motors
making them indispensable for modern-day society. The hexaferrites
currently constitute the most widely used permanent magnets (PMs),
accounting for 85% (by weight) of the global sales of PMs. This work
presents a complete bottom-up nanostructuring protocol for preparation
of magnetically aligned, high-performance hexaferrite PMs with a record-high
(BH)max for dry-processed ferrites. The
procedure includes the supercritical hydrothermal flow synthesis of
anisotropic magnetic-single-domain strontium hexaferrite (SrFe12O19) nanocrystallites of various sizes, and their
subsequent compaction into bulk magnets by spark plasma sintering
(SPS). Interestingly, Rietveld modeling of neutron powder diffraction
data reveals a significant difference between the magnetic structure
of the thinnest nanoplatelets and the bulk compound, indicating the
Sr-containing atomic layer to be the termination layer. Subsequently,
high-density SrFe12O19 magnets (>95% of the
theoretical density) are produced by SPS of the flow-synthesized nanoplatelets.
Texture analysis by X-ray pole figure measurements demonstrates how
the anisotropic shape of the nanoplatelets causes a self-induced alignment
during SPS, without application of an external magnetic field. The
self-induced texture is accompanied by crystallite growth along the
magnetic easy-axis, i.e., the thickness of the platelets, resulting
in high-performance PMs with square hysteresis curves and (BH)max of 30 kJ/m3. The (BH)max is further enhanced by annealing, reaching 36 kJ/m3 after 4 h at 850 °C, which exceeds the (BH)max of the highest grade of dry-processed commercial
ferrites worldwide.