Influence of change in cation distribution on the magnetic and catalytic properties via thermal annealing of spinel-type CoFe2O4

Abstract

The influence of the change in cation distribution on the magnetic and catalytic properties by the thermal annealing process of CoFe2O4 spinel was investigated. CoFe2O4 was synthesized by solid-state reaction and annealed at 500 °C for 100 h. Samples of single-phase cubic spinel structure with and without annealing were characterized using X-ray diffraction. The thermal annealing caused a change in the cation distribution in the CoFe2O4 structure, as confirmed by the X-ray absorption fine structure technique and least-squares fitting method. This result in the Co2+cation in the octahedral site increased with the Fe3+ cation decreasing, which effected the change in cation distribution. This was responsible for decreasing the saturation magnetization after annealing for the magnetic property, and increasing the degradation percentages of the solution after annealing for the catalytic property. This confirmed that thermal annealing on CoFe2O4 was effective for cation distribution change and affected the magnetic and catalytic properties.