Size and crystallinity-dependent magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 nanocrystals

CoFe2O4 nanocrystals were synthesised by a wet chemical coprecipitation approach. The effect of the degree of crystallinity and mean crystallite size of the CoFe2O4 nanocrystals on the magnetic properties was investigated. A series of CoFe2O4 samples with different degrees of crystallinity and mean crystallite size were produced by varying the synthesis and subsequent calcination temperatures. The higher synthesis and subsequent calcination temperatures resulted in a greater degree of crystallinity and a larger mean crystallite size of the CoFe2O4 nanocrystals. The VSM studies showed that the saturation magnetisation (Ms) and coercivity (Hc) of the CoFe2O4 nanocrystals possessed a linear relationship with the mean crystallite size.