Low-temperature synthesis and growth of superparamagnetic Zn0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 nanosized particles

Mono-disperse spinel Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanosized particles have been synthesized via a hydrothermal method at low temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) analysis indicated that the synthesized nanocrystals were of pure cubic spinel structure with the size about 6–20 nm. The activation energy of grain growth is 35.06 kJ/mol experimented by the Arrhenius equation. A primary experimental model was put forward to shed light on the growth mechanism of crystallined spinel Ni–Zn ferrite nanosized particles under hydrothermal conditions. The magnetic measurements shows that the prepared Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticle possess good superparamagnetic behavior.