Gd substituted NiCa ferrite/poly vinyl alcohol nanocomposite

Magnetic nanocomposite material composed of poly vinyl alcohol encapsulated Ni_0.2Ca_0.8Gd_0.08Fe_1.92O₄ was synthesized by a two step chemical method including sol-gel combustion and solvent casting technique. The obtained samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction; transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results of spectroanalysis pointed towards the existence of a considerably feasible interaction between the polymer chain and the ferrite particles. The dc magnetization measurements divulged that both pristine and the nanocomposite samples under applied magnetic field exhibit no hysteretic behavior at room temperature, symptomatic of the superparamagnetic behavior. The departure of field cooled and zero field cooled curves in the moment-versus-temperature plot further confirmed the room temperature superparamagnetic behavior. The extrapolation of the slope of the curves to M=0 imparted the average value of Curie temperature at ∼323 K (50 °C) for both the samples, suggestive of the efficacy of the material for finding application in self controlled hyperthermia.