Synthesis and characterization of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) magnetic nanocrystals using chemical method

Synthesis of nanostructure magnetic materials is a particularly important area of research; because of their potential applications, such as catalysts, high-density magnetic recording media, biosensing applications, ferrofluids and medical diagnostics [1-4]. The magnetic character of the used particles for recording media depends crucially on size, shape and purity of these nanocrystals. These particles should be single domain, of pure phase, having high coercivity and medium magnetization. We here present a simple method for preparation of magnetic (CoFe2O4) nanocrystals. The aim of this work is to investigate the key parameters effect on the size and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 nanocrystals. The size and size distribution of the particles prepared by this method was studied by XRD and TEM. The dependence of the particle size on the time and temperature reaction, amount of solvent and volume of surfactant was also studied. Finally, various magnetic properties of the particles have been studied as functions of size