Mössbauer and magnetic studies of Mg1+2xSbxFe2−3xO4 spinel ferrites

► A Mössbauer and magnetic study of Sb5+ and Mg2+ co-substituted ferrites of the composition Mg1+2xSbxFe2−3xO4 is reported. ► The cation distribution in Mg1+2xSbxFe2−3xO4 is shown to depend on both the Sb5+ ionic concentration and the temperature. ► The A-B magnetic exchange interaction and Mössbauer hyperfine fields weaken with increasing Sb5+ and Mg2+ concentrations. ► The magnetization of the substituted samples with x ≠ 0.00 increases at low temperatures relative to that of pure MgFe2O4. ► The magnetic properties were found to be explicable using the Yafet-Kittle model rather than the Néel's collinear model.