Investigation of structural and magnetic properties of novel Zn-substituted Ni–Mg ferrites

Sol–gel autocombustion method was used to make Ni0.7−xZnxMg0.3Fe2O4 with x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 nanoparticles. The novel Zn-substituted Ni–Mg ferrite cubic spinel nanoparticles are synthesized in this study. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data of the all ferrite samples exhibits a cubic spinel type structure. The lattice constant of all the ferrites was found to be increased with increase in Zn+2 content. The cubic spinel structure in the synthesized samples is further supported by two well-known absorption bands in the frequency range 390–590 cm−1 in Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy data. The microstructure of these ferrites was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that all ferrite samples were formed without any impurity with proper stoichiometry. From vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) studies it was observed that saturation magnetization and magnetic moment increase with zinc concentration up to x = 0.2 and for further compositions it decreases except x = 0.5.