Structural and Magnetic Study of Manganese Substituted Zinc Ferrite (MnxZn1-xFe2O4) Nanostructures Synthesized via Citric Acid assisted Solgel Autocombustion Method

Abstract

A series of spinel nanocrystalline Mn_xZn_1-xFe₂O₄ (X = 0.00, 0.15, 0.30, 0.45) mixed ferrites were successfully synthesized above 1000 °C by Solgel Autocombustion Synthesis route. The comprehensive characterizations of the ferrite nanostructures and study of the magnetic properties were carried out by XRD, SEM, and VSM like instrumentation techniques, respectively. The consequence of Mn²⁺ ion concentration on structural, morphological, and magnetic characterizations of Zn-Mn ferrite nanostructures was examined. XRD confirmed the single-phase spinel cubic structure of the samples with a particle size range of 28 to 35 nm. SEM micrographs confirmed nearly compact spherical-shaped nanoparticles. Magnetic measurement derived from Hysteresis-Loop revealed that there is an increase in saturation magnetization ( with increasing Mn²⁺ concentration. The M-H loops for all the samples are narrow with low values of coercivity and retentivity, indicating the superparamagnetic nature of these samples. Thus, optimized substituting manganese for zinc in Mn-Zn nano-ferrites improves its magnetic properties and makes these nanoparticles a potential candidate for their applications in hyperthermia, drug delivery, and MRI.