Effects of annealing temperature on structure and magnetic properties of CoAl0.2Fe1.8O4/SiO2 nanocomposites

CoAl0.2Fe1.8O4/SiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by sol–gel method. The effects of annealing temperature on the structure and magnetic properties of the samples were studied by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results show that the CoAl0.2Fe1.8O4 in the samples exhibits a spinel structure after being annealed. As annealing temperature increases from 800 to 1200°C, the average grain size of CoAl0.2Fe1.8O4 in the nanocomposites increases from 5 to 41nm while the lattice constant decreases from 0.8397 to 0.8391nm, the saturation magnetization increases from 21.96 to 41.53emu/g. Coercivity reaches a maximum of 1082Oe for the sample annealed at 1100°C, and thereafter decreases with further increasing annealing temperature. Mössbauer spectra show that the isomer shift decreases, hyperfine field increases and the samples transfer from mixed state of superparamagnetic and magnetic order to the completely magnetic order with annealing temperature increasing from 800 to 1200°C. ► CoAl0.2Fe1.8O4/SiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by sol–gel method. ► The dead layer thickness of ferrite grain was obtained by variation of grain size. ► Relative intensity of Fe3+ at grain surface decreases with increasing grain size. ► Increasing annealing temperature leads to the magnetic order state transformation.