Ferromagnetic Behavior in Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles Synthesized using Coprecipitation Technique

Abstract

Zinc ferrite have been produced and used by humans since long time, however understanding of ZnFe₂O₄ as a nano structured materials is very useful in order to be used for technological applications. ZnFe₂O₄ structural, magnetic and electrical properties are different when synthesized using different techniques. Therefore, it would be interesting to investigate the structural and magnetic properties of ZnFe₂O₄ when in nanosize. In the present work nanocrystalline ZnFe₂O₄ was synthesized using coprecipitation technique. The structural and magnetic properties of ZnFe₂O₄ nanopowders were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD of ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles showed the single phase spinel structure. The average particle size of ZnFe₂O₄ calculated from XRD was observed to be 45 nm. DLS measurements showed the average particle size to be 42 nm. Further, the phase formation of ZnFe2O4 was confirmed from the IR measurements. The IR spectra showed the bands corresponding to ZnFe2O4. We observed the room temperature ferromagnetic behavior in synthesized ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles which may be due to the random distribution of Zn²⁺ and Fe³⁺ at the tetrahedral (A) and octahedral [B] sites. In our future work, we want to investigate the defect induced magnetic properties of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles which is likely to contribute for ferromagnetic behavior in this material.