Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Mn- Zn Ferrite Obtained by Decomposition of Precursor by Sunlight

Magnetic nano-materials are extensively studied because of their wide range of applications. The Mn-Zn ferrite is amongst the most important magnetic materials and has attracted a great interest in technology because of its use in memory or data storage devices, magnetic recording heads, switches and other electromagnetic gadgets. Low temperature single phase nano crystalline MnxZn (1-x) Fe2O4 (x = 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6) were prepared by decomposition of precursor by sunlight. Stoichiometric amounts of manganese oxide, zinc oxide and ferric oxide are taken as starting materials. Mixture of these oxides were homogenized by using ball-mill and then treated with a ligand to produce a precursor. The samples obtained after the decomposition of precursor were characterized by infrared spectral analysis (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The lattice parameters increase with increase in Mn content (8.4386-8.4552 A0). The particle size, determined by Scherer formula, is found to be in nano range between 17nm to 26 nm. The saturation magnetization values are in the range 22.47emu /g - 41.63emu /g and hysteresis loss is found to be low for all the samples. The Curie temperature (Tc) is in the range 473K 558K.