Microstructural, optical, and magnetic properties of Mn0.3-xBaxCu0.2Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles

The effect of Ba ion substitution on structural, optical, and magnetic properties of Mn0.3-xBaxCu0.2Zn0.5Fe2O4 ferrites was investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer at room temperature. Structural results show that the structure of the samples with x up to 0.20 is completely indexed to a single-phase cubic structure (space group Fd m), while the impurity phase of BaO is observed in the samples with x = 0.25, 0.30. As the substitution content increases, the presence of non-magnetic Ba2+ ions in the octahedral site decreases the saturation magnetization of the samples. Comparison of the bandgap energy of the samples shows an increasing trend with Ba substitution for x up to 0.10 and then decreases, which can be interpreted in terms of changes in the electronic structure of the samples.