Fe-glycolate wires with micrometer-scale lengths can be synthesized by the polyol process. Although the as-produced wires are in the paramagnetic state at room temperature, they are transformed into ferrimagnetic iron oxides and ferromagnetic metallic iron wires by reductive annealing. The shape of the wires is unchanged by reductive annealing, and it is possible to control the magnetic properties of the resulting wire-shaped ferri/ferromagnets by adjusting the annealing conditions. Consequently, the reductive annealing of polyol-derived Fe-glycolate wires is an effective material-processing route for the production of magnetic wires.
Keywords: glycolate; iron metal; iron oxide; magnetic wire; polyol process.