Effect of SnO2 coating on the magnetic properties of nanocrystalline CuFe2O4

Nanocrystalline CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4/xSnO2 nanocomposites (x=0, 1, 5 wt%) have been successfully synthesized by one-pot reaction of urea–nitrate combustion method. The transmission electron microscope study reveals that the particle size of the as synthesized CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4/5 wt%SnO2 are 10 and 20 nm, respectively. The SnO2 coating on the nanocrystalline CuFe2O4 was confirmed from HRTEM studies. The resultant products were sintered at 1100 °C and characterized by XRD and SQUID for compound formation and magnetic studies, respectively. The X-ray diffraction pattern shows the well-defined sharp peak that confirms the phase pure compound formation of tetragonal CuFe2O4. The zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization was performed using SQUID magnetometer from 2 to 350 K and the magnetic hysteresis measurement was carried out to study the magnetic properties of nanocomposites.