A Method to Distinguish Exchange Coupled Core/Shell Nanostructures from the Mixed One in Synthesized (Fe3O4/CoFe2O4) Nanostructure

Abstract

Two single-phase iron and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles and a bi-magnetic soft/hard nanostructure of Fe3O4/CoFe2O4 were synthesized through the coprecipitation method at 80 °C. Also, a sample is made just by mixing the two single-phase ferrite nanoparticles. Assessment through XRD indicates that spinel structure was formed in all samples. The mean crystallite sizes of the single phase ferrites were estimated by applying Williamson–Hall method on the XRD patterns, which are 9 and 16 for iron and cobalt ferrite nanoparticles, respectively. The TEM results confirmed the formation of the spherical core/shell nanostructure with narrow size distribution (47 nm). The study of the different magnetic properties (HC, MS, TB, and TC) indicates that the magnetic behavior of the exchange coupled core/shell nanostructure was significantly different from that of the physically mixed sample. This difference is a fingerprint to distinguish an exchange coupled core/shell nanostructure from a physical mixture. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.