Modulated self-reversed magnetic hysteresis in iron oxides.

The steadfast rule of a ferromagnetic hysteresis loop claims its saturation positioned within the first and third quadrants, whereas its saturation positioned in the second and fourth quadrants (named as self-reversed magnetic hysteresis) is usually taken as an experimental artifact and is always intentionally ignored. In this report, a new insight in this unique hysteresis phenomenon and its modulation were discussed in depth. Different iron oxides (magnetite, maghemite and hematite) with varying dimensions were soaked in FeCl3 aqueous solution and absorbed Fe3+ cations due to their negative enough surface zeta potentials. These iron oxides@Fe3+ core-shell products exhibit well pronounced self-reversed magnetic hysteresis which concurrently have typical diamagnetic characteristics and essential ferromagnetic features. The presence of pre-magnetized Fe3+ shell and its negatively magnetic exchange coupling with post-magnetized iron-oxide core is the root cause for the observed phenomena. More strikingly, this self-reversed magnetic hysteresis can be readily modulated by changing the core size or by simply controlling Fe3+ concentration in aqueous solution. It is anticipated that this work will shed new light on the development of spintronics, magnetic recording and other magnetically-relevant fields.