6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
**Tours now open!** Registration is now closed - All registration payments are due before 23:39 SAST on 26 June.

Structural Properties of Gd4Fe2O9 Intermetallic Compounds

7 Jul 2026, 17:20
1h 20m
Great Hall (University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Poster Session 1

Speaker

Redrisse Djoumessi Fobasso (University of Johannesburg)

Description

The magnetic behaviour of Gd is amongst those that exhibit the most striking characteristics. It is among the few elements capable of changing its magnetic characteristics from ferromagnetism at ambient temperatures to paramagnetism at a comparatively low temperature, that is, at around 20°C. This capacity to change its magnetic characteristics is crucial for application in magnetic refrigeration technology, a cooling method based on the magnetocaloric effect. Moreover, Gd4Fe2O9, which exhibits interesting optical properties due to the presence of Gd3+ ions, which have well-known sharp optical transitions in the visible and near-infrared regions, making the compound potentially useful in luminescent applications. For this purpose, we successfully synthesized the Gd4Fe2O9 compound using a solid-state technique. The X-ray diffraction confirms that the material forms as a single phase in a monoclinic structure with space group P21/c. The scanning electron microscopy SEM and EDX were performed and confirmed the presence of the elements in stoichiometric amounts in the material. The Mossbauer spectrum confirmed that all the iron in the sample is in one local environment. The magnetic field of 50.6 T indicates a strong magnetic interaction between the nuclear magnetic moment and the magnetic field due to surrounding electrons. This work reports on the initial physical properties results, which open up understanding into the physics of this class of materials.

Apply for student award at which level: None
Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission Yes, I ACCEPT

Author

Redrisse Djoumessi Fobasso (University of Johannesburg)

Co-author

Prof. Buyisiwe Sondezi (University of Johannesburg)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.