Magnetic cobalt-zinc ferrite/PVAc nanocomposite: synthesis and characterization

Metal oxide nanoparticles are the subject of current interest because of their unusual optical, electronic, and magnetic properties. In this work, cobalt zinc ferrite ( $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ ) nanoparticles have been synthesized successfully through redox chemical reaction in aqueous solution. The synthesized $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ nanoparticles have been used for the preparation of homogenous polyvinyl acetate-based nanocomposite ( $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} /{\text{PVAc}} $ ) via in situ emulsion polymerization method. Structural, morphological and magnetic properties of the products were determined and characterized in detail by X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD patterns of the $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ confirmed that the formed nanoparticles are single crystalline. According to TEM micrographs, the synthesized $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ nanoparticles had nano-needle morphology with an average particle size of 20 nm. The calculated coefficient of variation (CV) of nanoparticles diameters obtained by TEM micrographs was 16.77. The $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ nanoparticles were dispersed almost uniformly in the polymer matrix as was proved by SEM technique. The magnetic parameters of the samples, such as saturation magnetization (M _s) and coercivity (H _c) were measured, as well. Magnetization measurements indicated that the saturation magnetization of synthesized $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} /{\text{PVAc}} $ nanocomposites was markedly less than that of $ {\text{Co}}_{0.3} {\text{Zn}}_{0.7} {\text{Fe}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{4} $ magnetic nanoparticles. However, the nanocompoites exhibited super-paramagnetic behavior at room temperature under an applied magnetic field.