Rietveld refinement and magnetic characterization of nanospheric CoFe₂O₄ prepared under the effect of ethylene glycol and H₂O

Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CF NPs) have received appreciable interest recently due to their impressive chemical stability, high coercivity, and potent anisotropic magneto-crystalline. The Sol-gel method was appointed to manufacture Cobalt ferrites, utilizing ethylene glycol (Eth) and water (H₂O) as diverse solvents to construct CF-Eth and CF-H₂O. The surface morphology, crystal structure, and magnetic properties of CF-Eth and CF-H₂O NPs were entirely deliberated through techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD refinement through Rietveld methods utilizing Fullprof software proved that both samples crystallized into a spinel structure in cubic phase with space group Fd-3 m. The Williamson-Hall Plot was employed to determine the crystallite size (G) and microstrain (ε). The mean crystallite size was found to be 73 nm and 51 nm for CF-Eth and CF-H₂O, respectively. FE-SEM confirmed the regular shape distribution of the particles. The measured saturation magnetization (MS) was 76.6 and 71.9 emu g⁻¹ for CF-Eth and CF-H₂O NPs, respectively, at room temperature.