Large magnetostriction in chemically fabricated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles and its temperature dependence.

Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthetized by co-precipitation technique from nitrate precursors. X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of the spinel ferrite. SEM and HRTEM micrographs corroborate the formation of agglomerated nanoparticles of 8–35 nm size range with 21.7 nm average size. The broad size distribution and considerable agglomeration of the particles hamper the superparamagnetic state of the sample, provoking a weak coercivity at room temperature. In contrast to several other magnetic nanostructures, the ZFC-FC curves of cobalt-ferrite nanoparticles revealed an unusually large magnetostriction, evidenced by larger values of magnetization in their ZFC curves than the FC curves in the measured temperature range 20–375 K. The behavior could be reversed on applying high magnetic fields. However, the maximum of ZFC curve reduces on increasing the applied magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]