Comparison study of some structural and magnetic properties of nano-structured and bulk Li-Ni-Zn ferrite samples

Nanoparticles of Li_0.1(Ni_1−xZn_x)_0.8Fe_2.1O₄ with x varying from 0.0 to 1.0 were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method. A part of these samples was sintered at 1200 °C for 2 h to obtain bulk samples via increase in particle sizes; the other part was left as-prepared. Structural and magnetic properties comparison studies were carried out between the as-prepared nanoparticle samples and their bulk counterparts. The X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the samples. The XRD pattern of the samples provides evidence of single phase formation of spinel structure with cubic symmetry. The lattice constant, and X-ray density were calculated from the XRD data. The density of the samples was measured and consequently the porosity was calculated too. In the present work, the effect of nano-structured particle size and Zn concentration on parameters such as bond length and vibration frequency are discussed with the help of the IR data. The B-H loops of all samples obtained by using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) are displayed. The reduction of saturation magnetization of the nano-structured samples in comparison with their bulk counterparts and the effect of Zn addition on saturation magnetization of all the samples are discussed.