Structural and Magnetic Properties of BaCo<sub>x</sub>Fe<sub>12x</sub>O<sub>19</sub> (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, &1.0) Nanoferrites Synthesized via Citrate Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

Cobalt substituted barium ferrites, BaCoxFe12-xO19 (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 & 1.0) have been synthesized via citrate sol-gel method. All the samples have been annealed at 1000℃ and characterized using Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffractography and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry. The FT-IR spectra of the samples exhibit two frequency bands in the range of 580 cm-1 and 460 cm-1, corresponding to the formation of metal oxides. The XRD studies reveal a crystallite size of ~55 nm. The saturation magnetization decreases from 96.3 emu/g to 47.8 emu/g with increasing concentration of cobalt due to the lower magnetic moment of Co2+ (3 µB) as compared to Fe3+ (5 µB). The coercivity values also show a decreasing behaviour from 3800 Oe to 1750 Oe with increasing cobalt concentration due to reduced magnetocrystalline anisotropy.