Influence of Mg+2 on the structure, microstructure, and magnetic interactions of zinc ferrite nanoparticles synthesized via co-precipitation route

Evolution of the structural, morphological and magnetic properties of Zn1-xMgxFe2O4 (X = 0.00, 0.10 and 0.20) nanoparticles are discussed in detail and relation between cation disorder and magnetic interactions are prospected. The synthesized samples sintered at 500 °C temperature under examination display cubic crystal structure possesses Fd-3m as space group. The average crystallite size and lattice parameter shows variation as revealed from scherrer equation with the addition of Mg dopant at zinc site. Rietveld refinement presented single phase formation. Raman spectroscopy was utilized to convey different Raman modes and their associated vibrations. Scanning electron microscopy was utilized to survey the morphological attributes. Magnetization studies reveal weak ferromagnetism at low temperature (5 K) due to cation disorder for all samples. Zero field cooled and field cooled curves from magnetization vs temperature reveal the blocking temperature and its dependence on cation disorder and particle size. These results provide information about the possible applications of zinc ferrite nanoparticles in magnetic sensors, nanomedicine, optoelectronics, and memory devices. •Pure and Mg doped ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared by facile co-precipitation method.•Rietveld refinement confirms single phase with cubic crystal structure.•The synthesized samples show mixed spinel ferrite structures.•SEM images revealed that these nano-particles turn into agglomerates with increase in magnetic interactions.•Both MH and MT graphs reveals that synthesized samples show weak ferromagnetism.