Influence of cobalt substitution on the properties of Ni0.95-xCoxCu0.05Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles

Abstract

Cobalt substituted nickel copper ferrite samples with general formula Ni0.95-xCoxCu0.05Fe2O4, where (x= 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05) were prepared by solid-state reactions method at 1373 K for 4h. The samples prepared were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD(, atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and Vickers hardness. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the formation of a single phase of cubic spinel structure in all the prepared samples . XRD analysis showed that the increase in the cobalt concentration causes an increase in the lattice constant, bulk density (ρm) and the x-ray density (ρx), whereas porosity (p) and crystallite size (D) decrease. The Topography of the surface observed was found to be more uniform and homogeneous when the cobalt concentration increases, leading to a decrease in the roughness of the surface while average grains size increases. The FTIR spectra show two absorption bands, namely the high frequency band (υ1) in the range (1078-1081) cm-1 and the low frequency band (υ2) in the range (418–459) cm-1, which due to the vibrations of the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of Fe+3–O−2, respectively, these bands confirm the spinel structure of the prepared ferrite nanoparticles. Vickers hardness was found to increase with cobalt concentration increases.