Optical and magnetic properties of monophasic cadmium ferrite (CdFe2O4) nanostructure prepared by thermal treatment method

•Metal nitrates were added into an aqueous solution of PVA and the mixed solution was heated at 373 K.•The effect of calcination temperature on morphology of cadmium ferrite nanostructures was characterized.•Elemental composition, phase composition and others properties were investigated.

This paper reports optical and magnetic properties of CdFe2O4 nanostructure which was prepared by a simple thermal treatment method. Calcination was conducted at temperatures between 673 and 773 K, and final products had different crystallite sizes ranging from 47 to 138 nm. The influence of calcination temperature on the degree of crystallinity, microstructure, and phase composition was investigated by different characterization techniques, i.e., X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. The compositions of the samples were determined by Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA). The effect of calcination temperature on band gap energy was studied by UV–vis absorption spectra. The formed nanostructures exhibited ferromagnetic behaviors with unpaired electrons spins, which was confirmed by using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.

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