Structural and magnetic properties of zinc doped copper ferrite synthesized by sol-gel and hydrothermal route

In this work, Cu-Zn spinel ferrites having chemical formula Cu(1-x)ZnxFe2O4 for x ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 were synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method and hydrothermal method with a step size of 0.2. The effect of Zn doping on structural properties, crystallite size, and magnetic properties synthesized by both methods are reported. Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns was analyzed using Maud for the determination of crystallite size. The X-ray diffraction pattern shows that single phase Cu-Zn spinel ferrite was formed, and it has a cubic structure. Additionally, the lattice parameter size increases with Zn doping and then decreases after x=0.6. A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was done to determine magnetic properties like saturation magnetization (Ms), remanence (Mr), and coercivity (Hc). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows the morphology and confirms the average particle size.