Ternary monodispersed Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles: preparation and magnetic characterization

A ternary system of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 has been synthesized for the first time using thermal decomposition of metal acetylacetonate in the presence of a high temperature boiling point solvent and fatty acids. Unlike the results of synthesis of this material by other techniques, we obtain nearly monodispersed nanoparticles, rendering them ideal for applications like in hyperthermia. The crystal structure and morphology of the particles obtained using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are those of a single phase spinel structure with no other impurity phases. The particles are of 7 nm average diameter, with a very narrow ( < 10%) size distribution. The oleic acid surfactant on the particles shows a 28% weight loss in thermo-gravimetric analyses (TGAs), which corresponds to a monolayer thickness of the coating. Magnetic measurements show the particles to be superparamagnetic with a characteristic blocking temperature of around 50 K.