Low temperature combustion synthesis and magnetostructural properties of Co-Mn nanoferrites

In the present work, Co_1-xMn_xFe₂O ₄ nanoparticles were synthesized by the low-temperature auto-combustion method. The thermal decomposition process was investigated by means of differential and thermal gravimetric analysis (TG-DTA) that showed the precursor yield the final product above 450°C. The phase purity and crystal lattice symmetry were estimated from X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructural features observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrates that the fine clustered particles were formed with an increase in average grain size with Mn²⁺ content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study confirms the formation of spinel ferrite. Room temperature magnetization measurements showed that the magnetization M_s increases from 29 to 60 emu/g and H_c increases from 13 to 28 Oe with increase in Mn ²⁺ content, which implies that these materials may be applicable for magnetic data storage and recording media.