Impact of Mn-substitution on structural, optical, and magnetic properties evolution of sodium–cobalt ferrite for opto-magnetic applications

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 6224 - 6232
• Main Authors: ElNahrawy, Amany M., Mansour, A. M., ElAttar, Hoda A., Sakr, Elham M. M., Soliman, Aisha A., Hammad, Ali B. Abou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cobalt ferrites; Crystallites; Electron microscopes; Energy gap; Fourier transforms; Magnetic properties; Magnetic saturation; Magnetometers; Manganese; Materials Science; Metal oxides; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optical properties; Sodium; Sol-gel processes; Spinel
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-020-03176-2

Mixed-metal oxide spinel ferrite nanoparticles of composition Na 0.5 Mn x Co (0.5− x ) Fe 2 O 4 (where x  = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5) were synthesized successfully through a well-known citrate sol–gel autocombustion method. X-ray diffraction approach, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, and spectroscopic Fourier transform infrared were used to investigate the microstructure and the formation of the composites. Diffuse reflectance was employed to investigate the optical properties and estimating of optical band gap type and value. The magnetic analysis was made by employing a vibrating sample magnetometer. It was found that the average crystallite size increases with the increase of manganese (Mn) content. The formation of the spinel structure of Mn-doped Na-CFO was confirmed by FTIR spectra. The direct optical band gap was observed through the Kubelka–Munk function calculation of diffusely reflected light. The saturation magnetization decreases with the addition of Mn cations.