Structural, morphological and magnetic properties of Mn2+ ions substituted nanosized nickel–copper–cobalt ferrites through sol–gel auto-combustion method

Manganese substituted nickel–copper–cobalt ferrite nanoparticles having the basic composition [Formula: see text] (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) were synthesized by sol–gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to estimate phase purity and lattice symmetry. All the prepared samples show the single-phase cubic spinel structure. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements also confirm the cubic spinel structure of the ferrite that is formed. The preparation of samples show these nearly spherical particles by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The magnetic properties of Mn[Formula: see text] ion substituted in nickel–copper–cobalt ferrite were studied by Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The saturation magnetization ([Formula: see text]), remanent magnetization [Formula: see text], coercivity [Formula: see text], magnetic moment [Formula: see text] and anisotropy constant [Formula: see text] first increase and then decrease with the increase of [Formula: see text] ions content. They had better magnetism than pure sample and other substituted samples when the substitution amount of [Formula: see text] ions was [Formula: see text]. At [Formula: see text], the maximum values of remanent magnetization [Formula: see text], saturation magnetization [Formula: see text] and coercivity [Formula: see text] are 25.58 emu/g, 61.95 emu/g and 689.76 Oe, respectively. This indicates that the magnetism of ferrite can improve by substituting with the appropriate amount of manganese. However, due to the excess [Formula: see text] ions instead, ferrite magnetism is weakened. This means that these materials can be used in magnetic data storage and recording media.