Abstract
Cr x Zn Fe2−x O4 (with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) spinel ferrite nanoparticles have been synthesized via sol–gel method. The precursor compound was calcined at a temperature of 900 °C for 3 h. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Cr3+ ion substitution on the structural and magnetic properties of Cr–Zn ferrite. The size, shape, and chemical state of the synthesized powders were structurally characterized by powder XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectral techniques. The XRD pattern of Cr–Zn ferrite provides information about single-phase formation of spinel structure with cubic symmetry. Both crystallite size and lattice parameter decrease with increasing Cr content. Formation of spinel structure is affirmed by using FTIR and FTIR spectra which shows that the bands υ1 and υ2 are found to shift gradually toward the higher frequency side with substitution of Cr, which have been attributed to the decrease in the lattice constant. SEM and TEM micrographs demonstrated that nanoparticles with narrow size distribution were obtained. The average grain size was found to be in nanometer range and of the order of 43–63 nm obtained using TEM images. Compositional stoichiometry was confirmed by EDAX technique. The magnetic properties of synthesized chromium-substituted Zn ferrite nanoparticles were studied using vibrating sample magnetometer at room temperature under the applied magnetic field of 15 KG. The result indicated that the amount of Cr contents significantly influenced the crystal morphology and structural and magnetic properties of Cr-doped Zn ferrite nanoparticles.
Highlights
Magnetic materials, nano-sized ferrites, show a significant change in physical, electrical, and magnetic properties in contrast to their bulk counterparts due to their high surface-to-volume ratio of the grains
The size, shape, and chemical state of the synthesized powders were structurally characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), High-resolution TEM (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectral techniques
The crystallite size is evaluated by measuring the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the most intense (311) peak from XRD pattern and by using the following Debye–Scherrer equation: d 1⁄4 0:9k=b Cosh; ð1Þ
Summary
Nano-sized ferrites, show a significant change in physical, electrical, and magnetic properties in contrast to their bulk counterparts due to their high surface-to-volume ratio of the grains. Ferrite nanoparticles have scientific and technological importance in recent years due to their magnetic properties and wide range of applications especially when the size of the particles approaches to nanometer scale [1]. They have been used for high-frequency transformer cores, rod antennas, and radio-frequency coils [2, 3]. These are used in nano-electronic devices, high-speed integrated circuits as well as in biomedical field as contrasting agents used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [4,5,6,7]. Nanoparticles of Zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) are the potential candidate for various applications such as radar-absorbing materials, gas sensors, photo-catalyst, and
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