Study of the cationic substitution effect on the magnetic properties of the ferrite MnxZn1-xFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared by TREG-mediated solvothermal route

Abstract

MnxZn1-xFe2O4 (x = 0–1) solid solution was prepared using the TREG-mediated solvothermal method. 10–12 nm spherical superparamagnetic particles (except for ZnFe2O4) were obtained. At room temperature, the ferrites have lower magnetic saturation (Ms) than magnetite. However, at 10 K, it is precisely the opposite. DRX and EXAFS showed that incorporating Zn2+ ions in tetrahedral A-sites provokes a redistribution of Mn and Fe ions in octahedral B-sites of the mixed spinel structure. For Zn concentrations from x = 0.5 and below, the Mn and Fe ions are almost equally distributed between A and B-sites. Therefore, at low Zn concentrations, the small migration of Fe and Mn ions to B-sites increases the magnetic moment of B sub-lattices and, consequently, the total magnetic saturation. In addition, Mn2+ oxidized to Mn3+ and, simultaneously, Fe3+ reduced to Fe2+, affecting the magnetic properties. The increment of Zn concentration severely reduces the magnetization.