Fabrication and Characterization of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 Magnetic Nanofibers

Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 Magnetic nanofibers were fabricated by calcining electrospun polymer/inorganic composite nanofibers and characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The experimental results show that the pure spinel structure is basically formed when the composite nanofibers are calcined at 450°C for 2h. With the increasing calcination temperature, both the saturation magnetization and coercivity of nanofiber samples increase initially along with the growth of Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanocrystals contained in the nanofibers. However, when the calcination temperature reaches 550°C, the saturation magnetization of nanofibers starts to dramatically decrease owing to the formation of the α-Fe2O3 phase at this temperature. The prepared Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanofibers calcined at 500°C for 2h have diameters ranging from 100 to 200nm. Their saturation magnetization and coercivity are 12.37 emu/g and 4.81 kA/m at room temperature, respectively.