The effect of pH value on the synthesis of zinc cobalt ferrite nano powder via co-precipitation method was investigated. Zinc cobalt ferrite (Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4) precipitated using a solution of nitrate raw materials under different pHs (pH=8, 10, 11, 12 and 14) and calcined at 750 °C for 2 hours. The obtained nano-powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Williamson-Hall relations and Extrapolate functions, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements.
The amount of pH had a significant effect on the structural and magnetic properties of the synthesized powders. At pHs 8 and 10, a tensile strain and above that a compressive strain was created in the system. By changing the tensile strain to compression the crystallite diameter increased, so that the crystallite diameter increased from 19.3 nm at pH 8 to 47.8 nm for pH =11. The HC of the all samples was in the range of 140-150 Oe. The saturation magnetization, anisotropy and Bohr magneton constants were 100.38 emu/gr, 15357.70 erg/Oe and 4.27, respectively for the synthesized sample at pH=11, which were higher than the other samples. These changes are due to the effect that pH has on the parameters of the crystallite diameter, particle size and also on the cation distribution of the ions in tetrahedral/octahedral spaces.
In order to investigate the effect of praseodymium (Pr) addition on the microstructure and magnetic properties of cobalt-zinc ferrite nanoparticles (NPs), different values of Pr element (x=0.2, 0.4 and 0.6) were added to the initial composition (Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2-xPrxO4) in the co-precipitation method, and the prepared precipitates calcined at 750 °C for 2 h. The synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD pattern revealed the formation of a secondary phase of Pr-Fe oxide in addition to the ZnCo ferrite phase in the samples. FESEM images showed changes in the morphology and size of the particles by adding Pr to the composition. For specimen with x=0.2, the homogeneous spherical like particles with the size about less than 60 nm was formed. Whereas, for composition containing x=0.6 of Pr, a non-uniform powder with plate like particles was obtained and NPs had a thickness of approximately less than 30 nm. VSM analysis indicated that by increasing the element Pr to the cobalt-zinc ferrite composition, especially for values higher than x=0.2, the powder become a completely non-magnetic material.
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