Hydrothermal synthesis of barium copper ferrite nanoparticles: Nanofiber formation, optical, and magnetic properties

The BaxCu1-xFe2O4 (x = 0.2-0.8) (BCF) nanoparticles were prepared via low temperature hydrothermal technique. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed an evidence for cubic spinel formation of BCF system. The average crystallite size (D) was observed to be increasing from similar to 20 to 24 nm. Further, the surface morphology was examined using field emission scanning (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The FESEM results attributed the evolution of nanofibers with increase of x. At x = 0.8, the complete generation of nanofibers was noticed and hence, these samples can be expected for biomedical applications. The TEM pictures also revealed a supportive evidence for the generation of nanofibers. The particle size was altering from similar to 6 to 75 nm. The optical properties of BCF were studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-Visible spectra. The small values of remanence magnetization (M-r), and coercivity (H-c) were obtained for x = 0.4-0.8 using magnetization versus magnetic field (M - H) curves. This indicated the superparamagnetic behavior of BCF. In addition, the probable distribution of cations at two sublattices was carried out using two-sublattice model. The ferroelectric hysteresis loops established the banana shape for x = 0.2 to 0.8.