Synthesis and Charaterization of Magnesium Zinc Ferrites as Electromagnetic Source

Fabrication of Mg_1-XZn_XFe₂O₄ (where x = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) samples using a conventional technique is reported. Oxides of magnesium, zinc and iron with purity of about 99.99% were mixed with distilled water in a milling machine for 12 hours. They were then filtered and presintered at 1250°C and sintered at 1350°C for 10 h in air. The phase and the crystal structure of the asprepared samples were identified using X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD). Hysteresis graph was evaluated using Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) to get the saturation magnetization (emu g^-1) and coercivity (G) value. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) was used to observe the surface morphology. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed major peak at plane (3 1 1) of the cubic structure for all the ferrites. The largest value of density achieved was 4.69 gcm^-3 which was exhibited by sample with 0.5 mole fraction of zinc content. Highest saturation magnetization value (3.652emu g^-1) was obtained for the 0.3 mole fraction of zinc content. A strong correlation between the saturation magnetization and zinc content was observed. We speculate that it is due to the Heisenberg superexchange interaction of magnetic Fe³⁺ and non-magnetic Zn²⁺ occupying the tetrahedral sites. The sample was used to induce electromagnetic (EM) waves in high operating frequency (5 MHz).