Abstract
The current work involves the synthesis of Mn_xCo_(0.5-x)Zn_(0.5)Fe_2O_4 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) by adopting sol-gel auto combustion technique. For all the samples, the single-phase spinel structure with cubic symmetry was assured by the XRD studies. The crystallite size lies in the nanoscale range of 35.4-43.6 nm as estimated by utilizing Debye-Scherrer formula. FTIR spectroscopy affirms the formation of spinel structure due to the appearance of characteristic vibrational bands near 400 and 600 cm"1 which corresponds to the octahedral and tetrahedral sites respectively. FESEM micrographs reveal the presence of non-uniform grain growth which was agglomerated, inhomogenous in size and shape, and having porous morphology. VSM study exhibits soft ferromagnetic nature due to the low coercivity value. There is a decrement in the saturation magnetization with increasing Mn~(2+) concentration which is due to the decrease in the crystallite size and non-magnetic nature of the Mn~(2+).
NSTL
Elsevier