Synthesis and investigation of properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles substituted with Zn by hydrothermal method

Iron oxide nanoparticles have been gaining much attention lately due to their magnetic properties and biocompatibility. This research focused on investigating the properties and synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles that have been substituted with zinc ZnxFe3-xO4 (x= 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6)  using the hydrothermal method. The synthesized samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and found that they have a space group of fd3m. The crystal size of the samples was found to be smaller than 20 nm. Vibrating sample magnetic analysis (VSM) was used to determine the magnetic behavior of the nanoparticles. The analysis showed that the nanoparticles exhibited superparamagnetism. In addition, the saturation magnetization values of the nanoparticles for samples with x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 were 44.10, 49.09, 43.51, and 48.07 emu/g, respectively. The microstructure and grain size of magnetic nanoparticles were analyzed using a field emission electron microscope (FESEM). The FESEM images revealed that the majority of the grains are spherical and have uniform distribution. The average grain size for the sample ranges between 10 and 30 nm. Based on these results, it can be concluded that these particles are suitable for use in medical and catalytic applications.