Low temperature synthesis and investigations of magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

Abstract

In the present study we report the synthesis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles using one of the well-known wet chemical method i.e. sol-gel auto combustion technique. The synthesis was carried out at sufficiently low temperature of 100°C. Citric acid was used as a fuel in the synthesis process. The obtained nanoparticles were sintered at 550°C for 4 h and then used for structural and magnetic investigations. The phase pure nature and nano crystalline nature was investigated through X-ray diffraction technique. Room temperature X-ray diffraction pattern show well defined reflections oriented at different Bragg’s angle corresponding to Miller indices (220), (311), (222), (400), (422), (511) and (440). All this reflections belongs to cubic spinel structure. Thus, XRD analysis confirms the formation of single phase compound. The particle size was obtained through Scherrer’s equation and found to be 21 nm, indicating the nanocrystalline nature. The magnetic properties were investigated using pulse field hysteresis loop tracer at room temperature. The saturation magnetization show increased values as compared to the bulk cobalt ferrite. The coercivity found to be less which exhibits the superparamagnetic behaviour. The obtained structural and magnetic parameters are useful in biomedical applications.