Preparation of Magnetic Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 Nanoparticles and Kinetics of Thermal Process of Precursor

Abstract

Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 precursor was synthesized by solid-state reaction at low heat using CuSO4⋅5H2O, MgSO4⋅6H2O, FeSO4⋅7H2O, and Na2C2O4 as raw materials. The spinel Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 was obtained via calcining precursor above 300 °C in air. The precursor and its calcined products were characterized by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG/DSC), Fourier transform FT-IR, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The result showed that Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 obtained at 600 °C had a saturation magnetization of 36.8 emu g−1. The thermal process of Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 precursor experienced two steps, which involved the dehydration of the five and a half crystal water molecules at first, and then decomposition of Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2(C2O4)3 into crystalline Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 in air. Based on the Kissinger equation, the values of the activation energy associated with the thermal process of the precursor were determined to be 85 and 152 kJ mol−1 for the first and second thermal process steps, respectively.