Tailoring magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles by different divalent cation substitution

Abstract

Different divalent cation substituted Co-ferrite (M_XCo_1−XFe₂O₄, where M = Mg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, with x = 0.20 and 0.75) nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel method and were annealed at 900 °C in air. After annealing, grain growth was observed for all the samples. With the substitution of Mg²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ with x = 0.20, the magnetization of the as-prepared and the annealed samples was decreased from that of the Co-ferrite whereas Zn²⁺ substitution enhanced the magnetization. The highest magnetization values of 79.9 and 92.9 emu/g at 300 and 60 K respectively were observed for the Zn²⁺ substituted annealed sample with x = 0.20. For higher concentration of x = 0.75, the magnetization value was further decreased in all the samples and the lowest magnetization value of 5.1 emu/g was observed in the Zn²⁺ substituted annealed sample with x = 0.75 at 300 K. The coercivity was reduced in the samples except for the Cu²⁺ substituted sample. In the Cu²⁺ substituted sample with x = 0.75, the highest coercivity of 1.43 kOe at 300 K was observed after annealing. The changed cation distribution in the spinel structure, ionic magnetic moment and anisotropy compared to the Co²⁺ in these nanomaterials can explain the observed magnetic properties.