Optical and magnetic characterizations of zinc substituted copper ferrite synthesized by a co-precipitation chemical method

Nano-sized Cu1-xZnxFe2O4(x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1) ferrites were synthesized by a co-precipitation chemical method. The structural, morphological, optical and magnetic properties of the products were determined and characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission scanning electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID). X-ray analysis showed that all compositions crystallize with a cubic spinel-type structure with an average crystallite size in the range of 11-13 nm. The lattice parameter increased from 8.331 to 8.400 angstrom with increasing Zn content. The optical properties of the nanoferrites were investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. UV-vis absorption spectra show that the energy band gap (E-g) of Zn-doped copper ferrite decreases from 3.64 to 3.10 eV with increasing the particle size. The broad visible emission band is observed in the entire PL spectrum. The Cu1-xZnxFe2O4 nanoferrites exhibit superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature (RT). The saturation magnetization (M-s) varies considerably with Zn content to reach a maximum value for Cu0.4Zn0.6Fe2O4 composition, i.e. 74.65 emu/g. The high M-s and magnetic moment values are attributed to cation distribution change. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.