Structural and magnetic properties of nickel antimony ferrospinels

• Polycrystalline spinel-type compounds of (Fe,Ni)[Fe,Ni,Sb]2O4 were synthesized.
• Fe (3+) and Ni (2+) cations occupy mainly tetrahedral (resp. octahedral) sites.
• The ferrimagnetic behavior observed below 650 K is investigated in detail.
• Squid magnetometry and neutron powder diffraction data are compared.

Spinel-type compounds of Fe–Ni–Sb–O system were synthesized as polycrystalline powders. The crystal and magnetic properties were investigated using X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, Mössbauer and X-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetization measurements. The samples crystallize in the cubic system, space group Fd – 3 m. The distribution of cations between octahedral and tetrahedral sites was refined from the diffraction data sets using constraints imposed by the magnetic, Mössbauer and EDS results and the ionic radii. The cation distribution and the temperature dependence of the lattice parameter (a) and the oxygen positional parameter (u) were obtained. A chemical formula close to Fe0.8Ni1.8Sb0.4O4 was determined, with Sb5+ cations occupying octahedral sites, and Fe3+ and Ni2+ occupying both tetrahedral and octahedral sites. Fe3+ mainly (85/15 ratio) occupy tetrahedral sites, and conversely Ni2+ mainly reside on octahedral ones.The magnetic unit cell is the same as the crystallographic one, having identical symmetry relations. The results indicate that the compounds have a collinear ferrimagnetic structure with antiferromagnetic coupling between the tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites. Uniquely, the temperature dependence of the net magnetization of this rare earth free ferrimagnet exhibits a compensation point.

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