Rietveld refinement and magnetic characterization of nanospheric CoFe2O4 prepared under the effect of ethylene glycol and H2O

Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CF NPs) have received appreciable interest recently due to their impressive chemical stability, high coercivity, and potent anisotropic magneto-crystalline. The Sol-gel method was appointed to manufacture Cobalt ferrites, utilizing ethylene glycol (Eth) and water (H2O) as diverse solvents to construct CF-Eth and CF-H2O. The surface morphology, crystal structure, and magnetic properties of CF-Eth and CF-H2O NPs were entirely deliberated through techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD refinement through Rietveld methods utilizing Fullprof software proved that both samples crystallized into a spinel structure in cubic phase with space group Fd-3 m. The Williamson-Hall Plot was employed to determine the crystallite size (G) and microstrain (epsilon). The mean crystallite size was found to be 73 nm and 51 nm for CF-Eth and CF-H2O, respectively. FE-SEM confirmed the regular shape distribution of the particles. The measured saturation magnetization (MS) was 76.6 and 71.9 emu g(-1) for CF-Eth and CF-H2O NPs, respectively, at room temperature.