Ni-Zn-Al mixed ferrite nanoparticles, with general formula NixZn1-xAlFeO4 (x
= 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0), were synthesized by sol-gel auto
combustion technique. All prepared ferrite nanoparticles were characterized
by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray
spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrating sample
magnetometer. X-ray diffraction study confirmed the formation of the single
phase cubic spinel structure in all ferrite samples. The crystallite size was
calculated by the Debye-Scherrer formula and found to be in the range 15-46
nm. The lattice constant decreased with increasing Ni2+ ion concentration.
Scanning electron microscopy images clearly indicate that the particles are
very small but agglomerated. Energy dispersive X-ray was used to confirm the
composition of the prepared powders. Fourier transform infrared spectra
showed two main absorption bands of ferrite nanoparticles, the high frequency
band (?1) around 600 cm-1 and the low frequency band (?2) around 400 cm-1
arising from tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) interstitial sites in the
spinel lattice, respectively. Vibrating sample magnetometer results reported
that the saturation magnetization, remanent magnetization and magnetic
moments decrease with increasing Ni2+ion concentration.