The effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coating on structural, magnetic properties and spin dynamics of Ni0.3Zn0.7Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles

In this study, the structural and magnetic properties of uncoated and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated Ni0.3Zn0.7Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles were studied using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and magnetic measurements. The XRD patterns indicate that the crystalline structure is single phase cubic spinel and the spinel structure is retained after PVA coating. Also, after PVA coating, the crystallite size (from Scherrer formula) increases from 17 to 24 nm. The dc magnetization measurements revealed that both samples exhibit no hysteretic behavior at room temperature, symptomatic of the superparamagnetic behavior. The estimated values of zυ, τ0 and T0, using the critical slowing down model, confirm the observed variation of freezing temperatures. AC susceptibility measurements showed the magnetic responses are frequency dependent, as an applicable potential in cancer therapy. The relative sensitivity of samples to the variation of applied frequency, as an important parameter in hyperthermia based therapy, increases by coating Ni0.3Zn0.7Fe2O4 nanoparticles with PVA.