Novel synthesis and magnetic evaluation of carbonaceous cobalt spinel ferrite nanostructures

We report the novel synthesis of carbonaceous cobalt ferrite by a simple, one-step, inert-ambient sealed-tube pyrolysis of a stoichiometric mixture of the ketoesterate complexes of the Co (II) and Fe (III) as precursors and without the aid of any catalysts. XRD shows the formation of mixed-phase spinel cobalt ferrite. Raman spectra indicate the formation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with a high degree of structural disorder in the composite. FESEM reveals the formation of cobalt oxide aggregates with spherical carbon particles that co-exist as separate entities. We have analyzed its effect on the magnetic characteristics of the cobalt ferrite composite. The M–H and M–T measurements reveal an extremely small squareness ratio of 0.124 and a blocking temperature of ~ 160 K, indicating superparamagnetic interactions in the composite at 300 K. We envisage that the carbonaceous composite of cobalt ferrite opens new opportunities for applications in regenerative medicine and advanced magnetic sensing.