Effect of Mg2+ substitution on structural and magnetic properties of nano zinc ferrite

Mg2+ ion substituted Zn ferrite nanoparticles of the composition MgxZn1-xFe2O4 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) have been tailored by the sol-gel method to study their structural, morphology and magnetic properties. Synthesis of single phase MgxZn1-xFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles is confirmed by XRD pattern. Lattice constant decreases with increase in Mg ion concentration and can be correlated to the ionic radii of Mg2+ (0.66A) ions which is smaller than Zn2+ ions A). The crystallite size lies in the 10-12 nm regime for all the samples. SEM images confirm the spherical shape of as synthesized samples. The saturation magnetization varies from 10.34 emu/g to 23.16 emu/g with Mg ion concentration.