Thermal, structural, magnetic and photoluminescence studies on cobalt ferrite nanoparticles obtained by citrate precursor method

Magnetic nanoparticles of cobalt ferrite have been synthesized by citrate precursor method. TG-DSC studies have been made to get the idea of the optimum temperature of annealing that could lead to the formation of nanoparticles. Annealing the citrate precursor was done at 450, 650, and 973 degrees C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used for characterization. The data from vibrating sample magnetometer and photoluminescence spectrometer (PL) have been analyzed for exploring their applications. Using the Scherrer formula, the crystallite size was found to be 25, 32, and 43 nm, respectively, using the three temperatures. The particle size increased with annealing temperature. Rietveld refinements on the X-ray (XRD) data were done on the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (monoclinic cells) obtained on annealing at 650 degrees C, selecting the space group P2/M. The values of coercivity (1574.4 G) and retentivity (18.705 emu g(-1)) were found out in the sample annealed at 650 degrees C while magnetization (39.032 emu g(-1)) was also found in the sample annealed at 973 degrees C. The photoluminescence (PL) property of these samples were studied using 225, 330, and 350 nm excitation wavelength radiation source. The PL intensity was found to be increasing with the particle size.