Synthesis, characterization, magnetic measurements and liquefied petroleum gas sensing properties of nanostructured cobalt ferrite and ferric oxide

•Synthesis of a series of nanostructured cobalt ferrite system.•Minimum crystallite size of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles was 7 nm.•Surface morphologies and LPG sensing properties depend on ferrite composition.•The magnetic behavior was characterized by magnetic measurements.•The maximum sensitivity of cobalt ferrite film sensor was 2.0 MΩ/s.

In the present paper, a series of nanostructured cobalt ferrite systems was synthesized in different compositions via chemical co-precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction analysis of cobalt ferrite systems confirmed the formation of its nanoparticles having minimum crystallite size 7 nm. The surface morphologies of the cobalt ferrite illustrate the distribution of partially agglomerated spherical nanoparticles having particle size ~12 nm. The magnetic behaviors of the synthesized materials were characterized by magnetic measurements. Liquefied petroleum gas sensing investigations of the fabricated pellets illustrate that the cobalt ferrite synthesized in 1:1 M ratio possesses an improved response in comparison to other compositions. The maximum sensitivity of cobalt ferrite film sensor was 2.0 MΩ/s. The response and recovery times were ~30 and 60 s, respectively. The sensor was 95% reproducible after three months of fabrication of the film, showing the stability of the fabricated sensor.