Effect of irradiated time on phase formation and crystallite size of multiferroic CoCr2O4 nanopowder prepared by sonochemical method

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this work, multiferroic CoCr2O4 nanopowder is synthesized by a sonochemical method. The effect of the ultrasonically irradiated time on the phase formation and crystallite size of CoCr2O4 powder is investigated. The nanopowder samples have been characterized by TGA, XRD, DLS, and SEM. It is found that an essentially monophasic CoCr2O4 nanopowder is obtained after the ultrasonic irradiation of 30 min followed by calcination at 600°C for 3 hours. The crystallite size and lattice strain of CoCr2O4 nanopowder is influenced by the irradiated time. While the crystallite size decreases with increasing the ultrasonically irradiated time, the lattice strain significantly increases. The control of the particle sizes in CoCr2O4 nanopowder will lead to a system where the effect of the particle sizes on the magnetic properties can be fully elucidated.