Variation in the structural and magnetic properties of heterovalent Mn2+–Si4+ substituted MnCrFeO nanoparticles

•Heterovalent Mn2+–Si4+ substituted MnCrFeO nanoparticles.•Lattice constant and crystallite size increased with Mn2+–Si4+ co-substitution.•Magnetization results exhibit collinear ferrimagnetic structure with Mn2+–Si4+ co-substitution.

We have synthesized heterovalent Mn2+–Si4+ substituted MnCrFeO nanoparticles with a nominal composition Mn1+xSixCrFe1−2xO4 (x = 0.0–0.3) via sol–gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscopy, magnetization measurements were used to study the effects of Mn2+–Si4+ heterovalent ions on the structural and magnetic properties of MnCrFeO. As a result, it was found that the Mn2+–Si4+ ions affect the crystalline structures and magnetic properties of MnCrFeO. X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the samples have the single phase cubic spinel structure of which the lattice constant slightly increased upon Mn2+–Si4+ substitution. The mean crystallite size of the samples was in the range of 21–27 nm as deduced from the XRD line broadening. Cation distribution was estimated using XRD data and it shows that Mn2+ and Si4+ ions prefer tetrahedral A-site. Magnetic measurement shows that saturation magnetization and magneton number decreased with Mn2+–Si4+ substitution with the formation of a collinear spin arrangement.

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