Structural and magnetic properties of Zn-substituted cobalt ferrites prepared by co-precipitation method

Zn substituted cobalt ferrite spinels with the general formula Zn(x)Co(1-x)Fe(2)O(4) (with x varying from 0 to 0.5) were synthesized by a co-precipitation method and calcined at 500 °C and 800 °C. It was found that Zn substitution has a big effect in decreasing the Curie temperature (T(c)), from around 440 °C for the undoped sample to ~180 °C with x = 0.5. However, these values were also strongly affected by the pre-calcination temperature of the samples, thus T(C) shifts from ~275 °C for the x = 0.3 sample to ~296 °C after calcination at 500 °C and 800 °C respectively. These effects are due to facilitation of demagnetisation by substitution of the non-magnetic Zn ions and by production of very small nanoparticles. The latter are removed by higher temperature calcinations and so T(C) increases.