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Hydrothermal synthesis of mixed zinc–cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: structural and magnetic properties

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Abstract

We synthesize Zn-substituted cobalt ferrite (Zn x Co1−x Fe2O4, with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) magnetic nanoparticles by a hydrothermal co-precipitation method in alkaline medium. The chemical composition is evaluated by atomic absorption spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. The structure and morphology of the nanopaticles are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. XRD Rietveld refinements reveal the cation distribution among the tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites. It shows that up to x ~0.5 zinc ions occupy preferably A-sites, above which Zn ions begin also a gradual occupancy of B-sites. TEM images show nanoparticles with different shapes varying from spheres, cubes, to octahedrons. Hysteresis loop properties are studied at 300 and 5 K. These properties are strongly influenced by the Zn and Co proportion in the nanoparticle composition. At 300 K, only samples with high Co content present hysteresis. At 5 K, the reduced remanent magnetization ratio (M R/M S) and the coercivity (H C) suggest that nanoparticles with x < 0.5 have cubic anisotropy. A kink on the hysteresis loop, close to the remanence, is observed at low temperature. This feature is presumably associated to interplay between hard and soft anisotropy regimes in the powder samples.

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Acknowledgments

We thank S. Casale for help in TEM and HRTEM measurements in UPMC—Paris 6, France. We also thank Dr. T. Oliveira dos Santos and Laboratório Multiusuário de Microscopia de Alta Resolução (LabMic) of University of Goiás, Brazil, for HRTEM and EDS measurements. Thanks to MSc A. L. Moreira and the LNLS Brazilian Synchrotron D12A-XRD1 proposal 16164. This work was supported by the contracts CAPES/COFECUB No. 714/11, together with the Brazilian agencies CAPES, FAP/DF, and CNPq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Complex Fluids Group, Instituto de Química, Univ. de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04478, Brasília, DF, 70919-970, Brazil

    P. Coppola & C. Kern

  2. Laboratório de Nanociência Ambiental e Aplicada - LNAA, Faculdade UnB Planaltina, Univ. de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 73300-000, Brazil

    F. G. da Silva, A. F. C. Campos, C. Kern & R. Aquino

  3. Complex Fluids Group, Instituto de Física, Univ. de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04455, Brasília, DF, 70919-970, Brazil

    F. G. da Silva, G. Gomide, F. L. O. Paula, J. Depeyrot & R. Aquino

  4. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire PHENIX, 75005, Paris, France

    F. L. O. Paula & R. Perzynski

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  1. P. Coppola
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  2. F. G. da Silva
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Coppola, P., da Silva, F.G., Gomide, G. et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of mixed zinc–cobalt ferrite nanoparticles: structural and magnetic properties. J Nanopart Res 18, 138 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3430-1

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