Dextrose assisted sol-gel auto combustion synthesis and magnetic characterizations of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

The nanocrystalline cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) was successfully synthesized by dextrose assisted sol-gel auto combustion method. The structural, morphological and magnetic properties of prepared sample were studied using standard technique. Pure phase formation of cobalt ferrite without additional impurity was observed in X-ray diffraction pattern. The average crystallite size (t = 20.6 nm), lattice parameter (a = 8.38 A) and other structural parameters were calculated from XRD data. The SEM image shows good homogeneity and sponge like morphology of the prepared sample with average grain size of 69.8 nm. The presence of the peak around 608 cm−1 and 415 cm−1 in IR spectrum confirmed that the formed product is spinel ferrite. The values of saturation magnetization (Ms) and remanent magnetization (Mr) were obtained from M-H curve and found to be 74.5 emu/gm and 44.1 emu/gm respectively. Thus, it is observed from experimental results that dextrose can be used as a fuel for synthesis of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with smaller size particles and improved magnetic properties for various technological applications.