Chemical synthesis and magnetic properties of monodisperse cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study presents a method for synthesizing monodisperse cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with controlled size and shape, exhibiting superparamagnetic properties suitable for advanced magnetic applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a synthesis process that produces highly monodisperse, size-controlled cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with detailed analysis of their magnetic properties.

Findings

Nanoparticles are spherical, monodisperse, and size-controlled.

They exhibit superparamagnetism with low coercivity.

Potential for use in magnetic nanodevices and biomedical applications.

Abstract

In this work, a successful synthesis of magnetic cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles is presented. The synthesized CoFe2O4 nanoparticles have a spherical shape and highly monodisperse in the selected solvent. The effect of different reaction conditions such as temperature, reaction time and varying capping agents on the phase and morphology is studied. Scanning transmission electron microscopy showed that the size of these nanoparticles can be controlled by varying reaction conditions. Both X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy corroborate the formation of CoFe2O4 spinel structure with cubic symmetry. Due to optimized reaction parameters, each nanoparticle was shown to be a single magnetic domain with diameter ranges from 6 to 16 nm. Finally, the magnetic investigations showed that the obtained nanoparticles are superparamagnetic with a small coercivity value of about 315 Oe and a saturation magnetization of 58 emu/g at room temperature. These results make the cobalt ferrite nanoparticles promising for advanced magnetic nanodevices and biomagnetic applications.