Synthesis, characterization and Monte Carlo simulation of CoFe2O4/Polyvinylpyrrolidone nanocomposites: The coercivity investigation

To study the influence of polymer matrix on the effective magnetic anisotropy constant and coercivity of magnetic nanoparticles, we have synthesized the Cobalt ferrite/Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanocomposites by co-precipitation method in four different processes. In addition the Monte Carlo simulation and law of approach to the saturation magnetization have been applied to achieve the anisotropy constants. The obtained experimental and theoretical results showed a decrease in anisotropy constant relative to the bulk cobalt ferrite. We have showed that the PVP matrix can interact with metal cations and made them approximately immobilized to participate in spinel structure. Hence different anisotropy constants or coercivity were obtained for synthesized nanocomposites. In addition, PVP matrix can attach to the surface of magnetic particles and make them approximately non-interacting. The synthesized samples have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Magnetic measurements were made at room temperature using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved