Synthesis, Structural, and Magnetic Properties of Mn_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄Nanoparticles by Sol–Gel Route

Abstract

In this work, the cubic spinel manganese-zinc ferrite nanoparticle is synthesized by the sol-gel auto combustion method. It is the simple chemical route and low-cost method for the formation of manganese zinc ferrite nanoparticles. Structural and morphological studies of the synthesized manganese-zinc ferrite nanoparticles are done by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microsccopy (SEM). The X-ray diffraction results indicate that the ferrite sample has a cubic spinel type structure with Fd3m space group. The average crystallite size of the synthesized manganese zinc ferrite nanoparticles is found to be 34 nm as determined by Debye-Scherrer equation. Two well-known absorption bands at 467 and 558 cm −1 , in FTIR spectroscopy data also confirm the cubic spinel structure in the prepared samples. Morphological studies by SEM exposed formation of largely agglomerated and well-defined nanoparticles of the sample. From the magnetization data, parameters like magnetization, coercivity, remanance magnetization, and squareness ratio are calculated.