Structural and magnetic properties of CuxMg0.5-xZn0.5Fe2O4 (x=0-0.5) particles

The CuxMg0.5-xZn0.5Fe2O4 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) ferrites were prepared by sol-gel method. The effect of copper content on the structural and magnetic properties was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and magnetic susceptometer. Results show that single spinel ferrite particles were prepared by controlling the type and amount of additive. Copper content has significant influence on magnetic properties of prepared samples. It was found that with increasing copper in Cu(5)Mg(0.5-x)Zh(0.5)Fe(2)O(4), saturation magnetizations along with grain size were increased while the values of coercivity were decreased. The variation of effective magnetic susceptibility exhibits almost linear trend with magnetic field. A frequency-dependence peak was observed in ac magnetic susceptibility versus temperature for fine particles which is well fitted by Vogel-Fulcher model. It was proved that there is strong magnetic interaction among prepared nanoparticles. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.