Tahmineh Sodaee, Ali Ghasemi, Ebrahim Paimozd, Andrea Paesano Jr. e Akimitsu Morisako
JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS – Volume: 42; Issue: 9; Pages: 2771-2783; DOI: 10.1007/s11664-013-2656-2
Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by a reverse micelle process. The optimum processing conditions required to fabricate nanocrystalline cobalt ferrite using a reverse micelle technique, especially the effect of waterto-surfactant molar ratios including w = 8, 10, 12, and 14, pH values in the range of 8 to 11, and annealing temperatures in the range of 400C to 800C, were evaluated. x-Ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), vibrating-sample magnetometry, and superconducting quantum interference device analysis were employed to evaluate the structural and magnetic properties of synthesized nanoparticles. XRD analysis confirms that the nanoparticles have a single-phase cubic spinel structure. The average particle size increases with increasing pH value and annealing temperature. Magnetization study reveals that the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles exhibit a superparamagnetic trend. The zero-field-cooled magnetization curves of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles indicated that, with an increase in pH value, the blocking temperature increases. Based on the obtained optimum parameters, terbium-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with composition CoFe2xTbxO4 (x = 0.1 to 0.5) were prepared by a reverse micelle process. XRD and field-emission scanning electron microscopy evaluation demonstrated that single-phase spinel ferrites with narrow size distribution were obtained. Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy was used to determine the site preference of terbium cation. The results confirm that terbium cations were distributed at tetrahedral and octahedral sites, but with a preference for the former. It was observed that, with an increase in terbium content, the saturation magnetization increases.