Abstract: The spinel-type MeFe₂O₄(Me=Zn,Ni_0.5Zn_0.5, Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2) ferrite fibres with diameters of 0.5-20.0μm and high aspect ratio (length/diameter) were successfully prepared by the organic gel-thermal decomposition process using metal salts and citric acid as raw materials. The structure, thermal decomposition process and morphologies of the gel precursors and the fibres derived from thermal decomposition of these precursors were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TG-DSC and SEM, and the electromagnetic performance of ferrite fibers were measured by VSM. The results show that linear-type structural molecules for the gel precursor is formed by a single dentate liganding type or bidentate-chelating mode among citric acid and metal ions during the complexation reaction, and the gel composed of these linear-type molecules exhibits a good spinning performance. The MeFe₂O₄(Me=Zn, Ni_0.5Zn_0.5, Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2) ferrite fibres all exhibit a soft magnetic performance, and chemical composition, grain size and morphology have considerable influence on the magnetic properties of these ferrite fibres. The saturation magnetization(M _s) of ZnFe₂O₄, Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ and Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2Fe₂O₄ fibres are 2.6, 12.7 and 40.0A·m²·kg^-1, and coercivity of these fibres correspondingly are 4.77, 5.82 and 4.04kA·m^-1, respectively.

Key words: spinel type ferrite fibres, organic gel-thermal decomposition method, spinnability, magnetic properties