Low-temperature synthesis and growth of superparamagnetic Zn0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 nanosized particles

Mono-disperse spinel Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanosized particles have been synthesized via a hydrothermal method at low temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) analysis indicated that the synthesized nanocrystals were of pure cubic spinel structure with the size about 6-20 nm. The activation energy of grain growth is 35.06 kJ/mol experimented by the Arrhenius equation. A primary experimental model was put forward to shed light on the growth mechanism of crystallined spinel Ni-Zn ferrite nanosized particles under hydrothermal conditions. The magnetic measurements shows that the prepared Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticle possess good superparamagnetic behavior. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.