Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2014) 129: 278
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2014-14278-8

Regular Article

Structural and magnetocaloric properties of nano Zn ferrite doped with Ni under hydrothermal conditions

Faculty of Science, Physics Department, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

^* e-mail: omhemeda@yahoo.co.uk

Received: 26 September 2014
Accepted: 26 November 2014
Published online: 30 December 2014

Abstract

A series of Zn_1−x Ni _x Fe₂O₄ nano ferrite (with x = 0 , 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) compositions were synthesized using the hydrothermal technique. The powder samples were characterized by XRD, VSM, and FTIR. The X-ray analysis showed that the samples had a single phase spinel cubic structure. The lattice constant decreased with increasing Ni content from 8.373 to 8.279 Å. The FTIR spectra of the samples in the range 200–5000 cm⁻¹ were reported. The hysteresis loops of the samples were performed at room temperature, the coercivity (H _c), saturation magnetization (M _s), experimental magnetic moment (μ _exp) and retentivity (M _r) were determined. The magnetic entropy change was calculated from measurements of M(H,T) where H is the magnetic field and T is the temperature. The maximum value of entropy change (ΔS) increased as the applied field increased, which makes these material candidates for magnetocaloric effect.