Nanocrystalline spinel ferrite (MFe2O4, M=Ni, Co, Mn, Mg, Zn) powders prepared by a simple aloe vera plant-extracted solution hydrothermal route

Abstract Nanocrystalline spinel ferrite MFe 2 O 4 (M = Ni, Co, Mn, Mg, Zn) powders were synthesized by a novel hydrothermal method using Fe(acac) 3 , M(acac) 3 (M = Ni, Co, Mn, Mg, Zn) and aloe vera plant extracted solution. The X-ray diffraction and selected-area electron diffraction results indicate that the synthesized nanocrystalline have only spinel structure without the presence of other phase impurities. The crystal structure and morphology of the spinel ferrite powders, as revealed by TEM, show that the NiFe 2 O 4 and CoFe 2 O 4 samples contain nanoparticles, whereas the MnFe 2 O 4 and MgFe 2 O 4 samples consist of many nanoplatelets and nanoparticles. Interestingly, the ZnFe 2 O 4 sample contains plate-like structure of networked nanocrystalline particles. Room temperature magnetization results show a ferromagnetic behavior of the CoFe 2 O 4 , MnFe 2 O 4 and MgFe 2 O 4 samples, whereas the samples of NiFe 2 O 4 and ZnFe 2 O 4 exhibit a superparamagnetic behavior.