Study of reversible and irreversible magnetization processes of coprecipitated cobalt ferrite

Abstract

Cobalt ferrite was obtained by coprecipitation of iron and cobalt sulphates into acetone medium. The Co0.62+Fe0.43+[Co0.42+Fe1.63+]O4 cation distribution was obtained from Mössbauer spectroscopy at room temperature. Saturation magnetization of 74.1 emu/g and an intrinsic coercive field of 528 Oe were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Using the moving Preisach model, separation of reversible (Mrev) and irreversible (Mirr) magnetization components was performed. The parameters η defined as η=(dMrev/dMirr)Hi and km the moving Preisach parameter expressed through the relation η=kmχrev, were evaluated in order to investigate the hysteretic behavior of Mrev. Additional characterization was done in order to investigate the elemental composition, structure, and morphology of the samples.