Abstract
Nickel substituted manganese ferrites, $Mn_{1-x}Ni_xFe_2O_4$ ($0.0{\leq}x{\leq}0.6$), were fabricated by sol-gel method. The effects of sintering and substitution on their crystallographic and magnetic properties were studied. X-ray diffractometry of $Mn_{0.6}Ni_{0.4}Fe_2O_4$ ferrite sintered above 523 K indicated a spinel structure; particles increased in size with hotter sintering. The M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectrum of this ferrite sintered at 523 K could be fitted as a single quadrupole doublet, indicative of a superparamagnetic phase. Sintering at 573 K led to spectrum fitted as the superposition of two Zeeman sextets and a single quadrupole doublet, indicating both ferrimagnetic and paramagnetic phase. Sintering at 673 K and at 773 K led to spectra fitted as two Zeeman sextets due to a ferrimagnetic phase. The saturation magnetization and the coercivity of $Mn_{0.6}Ni_{0.4}Fe_2O_4$ ferrite sintered at 773 K were 53.05 emu/g and 142.08 Oe. In $Mn_{1-x}Ni_xFe_2O_4$ ($0.0{\leq}x{\leq}0.6$) ferrites, sintering of any composition at 773 K led to a single spinel structure. Increased Ni substitution decreased the ferrites' lattice constants and increased their particle sizes. The M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectra could be fitted as the superposition of two Zeeman sextets due to the tetrahedral and the octahedral sites of the $Fe^{3+}$ ions. The variations of saturation magnetization and coercivity with changing Ni content could be explained using the changes of particle size.
