Comparative study of structural and magnetic properties of cobalt, lithium and tin ferrite

We have prepared nano particles of Cobalt Ferrite CoFe₂O₄, Lithium Ferrite LiFe₅O₈ and Tin Ferrite SnFe₂O₄ with the help of citrate precursor method. Selection of lithium ferrite was done in order to detect any difference in properties due to different size. Their structural and magnetic properties were studied with the help of X-Ray diffractometer and vibrating sample magnetometer. All the samples were annealed at high temperature (450°C-650°C), to reduce the chances of obtaining superparamagnetism. On increasing the temperature sharp rise in particle size of Tin ferrite was seen but in lithium ferrite and Tin ferrite, this was not significant. In the context of magnetic properties, the saturation magnetization was observed to be nearly constant with temperature in case of tin and lithium ferrite. The coercivity of Tin and Lithium ferrite was nearly independent of temperature but in cobalt ferrite there was sharp decrease in coercivity with temperature. We expect that present work will help in synthesis of ferrites by a low cost route making analysis of properties easier.