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Observed morphology evolution of BaFe12O19 ferrite particles, obtained with different relative amounts of surfactant used.

The present study highlights the effect of metal precursor types (SO42¯, Cl¯, and NO3¯), their concentration, and the influence of ionic strength of reaction environment on the morphology, surface, and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 particles. The magnetic nanoparticles were obtained by chemical coprecipitation in alkaline medium at increasing metal concentration in the range of 0.0425 mol·dm-3 to 0.17 mol·dm-3 and calcination temperature from 400°C to 800°C. It was found that the chemistry of precursors can be directly correlated with magnetic properties. The CoFe2O4 particles from metal sulphate precursors showed the highest saturation magnetization and the lowest coercivity. The adjustment of ionic strength in the range of 1.25–5 M was achieved by adding an appropriate quantity of metal sulphates into aqueous solutions at a constant pH or by adding an appropriate quantity of NaClO5 under similar conditions. The average hydrodynamic size of CoFe2O4 increased from 46 nm to 54 nm with increasing metal concentration and ionic strength. An explanation of magnetic properties, caused by ionic strength and metal concentration, is given based mainly on the reduction in repulsive forces at the particle interface and compensation of the double electric layer in the presence of anions. The observed coercivity was lower for the particles obtained in solutions with the highest ionic strength, whereas the concentration of metals and calcination temperature affected the saturation magnetization and morphology of the obtained cobalt ferrite particles.

Superconductivity is observed below T c = 1.6 K in an endohedral Ga cluster compound PdGa5 using magnetization and heat capacity measurements. Electronic structure calculations show that the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level is dominated by Ga s and p states and that the overall shape of DOS is similar to what was found in other endohedral Ga cluster superconductors, such as Mo x Ga5x+1, ReGa5, and T 2Ga9 (T = Rh and Ir). Our results provide a more complete picture of the relationship between the valence electron count and superconductivity in the family of endohedral Ga cluster superconductors.