Fabrication of doped ferrites and exploration of their structure and magnetic behavior

Abstract

Manganese-doped Mn_xFe_3−xO₄ (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8) spinel ferrites were produced via co-precipitation using the ethanolamine. XRD results confirmed the formation of the spinel phase. The well-crystallized particles of the ferrite spinel phase had linear sizes in the range of 5–9 nm. It was found that the lattice parameter increases gradually as the Mn concentration is increased. XPS data supported the presence of Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ in the nanosized crystallites. A large specific surface area of 124–143 m² g⁻¹ was calculated using HRTEM and BET. The spontaneous magnetization increases monotonically from ∼51 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.0 up to ∼106 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.8. By contrast, the remanent magnetization changed non-monotonically from ∼3 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.0 up to ∼11 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.8, with a local maximum of ∼7 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.2 and a local minimum of ∼3 emu g⁻¹ for x = 0.6. The coercivity also changed non-monotonically from ∼4 Oe for x = 0.0 up to ∼9 Oe for x = 0.8, with a minimum of ∼1 Oe for x = 0.2. The ordered magnetic moments for each sub-lattice were computed. The large values of the specific surface area indicate that the samples are good candidates for chemical and biological applications. The FT-IR and Raman spectra obtained supported the Rietveld refinement of XRD without forming any impurity phases. With an increase in the Mn concentration, magnetic investigations indicated an enhancement in the magnetic parameters of the obtained nanostructured samples.

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1. Introduction

Ferrite nanoparticles with a spinel structure¹ have attracted the interest of many researchers due to their intriguing properties compared with bulk samples. The miniature sizes of nanosized particles have contributed to the development of theoretical concepts and the introduction of practical applications.² Also, the small particle sizes have aided an understanding of many physical phenomena and processes that occur in complex iron oxides.³ Along with traditional applications, such as in microwave devices,⁴ transformer cores,⁵ solid-state gas sensors,⁶ high-frequency magnets,⁷ high-temperature catalysts,⁸ and targeted drug delivery,^9,10 superparamagnetic nanoparticles of ferrite spinels are also promising for use as liquid fillers in heat transfer fluids,¹¹ in magnetoviscous¹² and magnetorheological fluids,¹³ for storing high-density information,^14,15 and in devices with advanced intelligent technologies.¹⁶

It should be noted that the low saturation magnetization values of nanometer particles limit their practical use. At the same time, the intriguing properties of nanosized ferrite spinel particles with superparamagnetic properties have attracted extensive interest in the design, synthesis, and use of such materials in many necessary applications.^17–20 The antibacterial activity of ferrites obtained using plant extracts^21–23 makes them excellent candidates for new applications, including water purification,²⁴ as chip-sized nanolaboratories,²⁵ in tissue engineering,²⁶ hyperthermia treatment²⁷ and medical supplies.²⁸

Complex iron oxide with a spinel structure and its manganese-substituted derivatives represent an important direction in a variety of ferrites from the perspective of biomedical applications.²⁹ Nanosized magnetite powder with manganese substitution has mainly been considered as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).^30–32

Various methods^33–38 have previously been used to obtain nanosized particles of Mn-doped spinel ferrite. The superparamagnetic behavior of ferromanganese spinels with nanosized (15–17 nm) particles was established via their S-shaped magnetization and the absence of magnetic hysteresis.^39–41 A reduced value of saturation magnetization was also found in comparison with their bulk counterparts. It is interesting to note that the calculated magnetic particle size (D_m) is smaller than the crystallite size, as estimated from XRD results. This fact was explained by the presence of a dead magnetic layer on the nanoparticle surface.

Nanosized MnFe₂O₄ powders were obtained via the sol–gel autocombustion method.⁴² The phase of the normal ferrite spinel was identified. It was found that with an increase in the annealing temperature, the Fe³⁺ cations filling the octahedral sites are gradually reduced to Fe²⁺ cations. This was explained by the oxidation of Mn²⁺ cations to the Mn³⁺ state. In addition, nanosized MnFe₂O₄ powders were also obtained by Zhang et al.⁴³ using the co-precipitation method. The effect of a surfactant (CTAB) on the particle size of these compositions was studied. The maximal saturation magnetization of 54.5 emu g⁻¹ was observed.

In the current work, our activity was directed towards obtaining samples of ferrite spinel doped with manganese cations via organic co-precipitation. The method of synthesis using an organic base⁴⁴ for the co-precipitation is one of the most optimal methods for obtaining superparamagnetic nanosized samples. This is due to its simplicity, better control over the morphology and size of the crystallites, mass use, economy, and time economy.⁴⁵ Ethanolamine was used as the precipitating agent in the current work. The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the obtained nanosized Mn-doped spinel ferrites were studied.

2. Experimental

2.1. Reagents and synthesis

Nanosized Mn-doped ferrite spinel samples (NMFSs; Mn_xFe_3−xO₄ (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8)) were prepared using the co-precipitation organic base method with ethanolamine solution. First, 5 mM solutions of manganese chloride (MnCl₂·4H₂O; LOBA Chemie, LOT # L129411409) and ferrous chloride (FeCl₂·4H₂O; ALPHA CHEMIKA, Mumbai – 400 002 (INDIA)) with 0.5 mL (37 wt%) HCl and 2 mL water were added together and stirred thoroughly. Second, the 10 mM ferrous chloride FeCl₃·6H₂O (Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. 26, Navketan Mumbai 93, India) was dissolved in 20 mL water. These two solutions were combined and stirred at 50 °C. Thereafter, the resulting product was quickly diluted with 100 mL of 2.0 M ethanolamine (C₂H₇NO; ALPHA CHIMIKA S. No. AL9686) with mechanical mixing for ∼60 min. This obtained mixture was stirred for about 2 h at 90 °C and then cooled to room temperature (RT). The precipitate that formed was removed using a magnet and purified with distilled water before being dried in a drying chamber at 80 °C for 12 h.

2.2. Measurements

Phase analysis and determination of the lattice parameters of the NMFSs at RT were performed via XRD using a PHILIPS® X’Pert diffractometer. The current–voltage characteristics of the copper tube were 40 kV and 30 mA. The Bragg angle was changed from 20° to 80° with a step size of 0.025° and a holding time of 4 s. The crystal structure parameters were determined using the Rietveld MAUD program.^46,47 Reliability parameters such as R_b, R_wp and GOF were achieved in the intervals of 6.8–7.6%, 9.21–10.44% and 0.84–1.31, respectively. The LaB₆ standard was used to evaluate the instrumental parameters. The experimental conditions established using the standard were maintained. Energy dispersive X-ray spectra (EDX; Hitachi S-4800) were used to determine the proportion of metal ions in the NMFSs.

XPS spectra were obtained using an Ulvac-Phi QuanteraSXM instrument with Al-Kα radiation. The C–C hump at ∼284.8 eV was applied for charge correction. Fourier transform infrared spectra (Bruker FT-IR) were obtained at RT in the range of 200–2000 cm⁻¹. The Raman spectra were fixed using a JASCO NRS-1000 microspectrometer with excitation radiation of ∼514.5 nm using a green argon laser. The specific surface area of the NMFSs was determined using a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) Micrometrics Instrument Corporation TriStar II 3020 V1.03 instrument. The grain size was determined using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM; JEOL-TEM-2100F) operated at a voltage of 200 kV.

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) investigations were realized using an X-band EMX spectrometer (Bruker, Germany), at the National Center of Radiation Research and Technology of Egypt (NCRRT). The spin moment values were computed using eqn (1):

where the N is the spin value, K = 10¹³ spins, H₀ is resonance intensity of the field, ΔH is the hump width, Ge is the gain, Hm is the modulation amplitude, and P is the power.

A lab-made vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM)⁴⁸ of up to 8 kOe was used at RT to investigate the hysteresis loops⁴⁹ for all the NMFSs.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. XRD investigation

Fig. 1(a–d) display the XRD patterns of the NMFSs with various x at RT. The form and positions of all the Bragg reflections are in good agreement with an earlier report⁵⁰ for the cubic spinel structure with the Fd3̄m space group (ICDD number: 01-088-1965). The peak widening of the NMFSs suggests the nanometer sizes of the obtained powders. It should be recalled that the experimentally established a_e unit cell parameter was computed using Rietveld analysis.⁵¹

Fig. 1 XRD patterns for the NMFSs with different Mn ion contents at RT: x = 0.0 (a), x = 0.2 (b), x = 0.6 (c), and x = 0.8 (d).

Rietveld refinement of the XRD pattern for x = 0.0 is presented in Fig. 2. The reliability factors were R_b ≈ 7%, R_wp ≈ 10.44%, and GOF ≈ 0.84. These data will help to discuss latter the distribution of cations between different atomic positions. The a_e unit cell parameters are summarized in Table 1. The a_e magnification can be associated with the replacement of Fe³⁺ ions by Mn³⁺ ions.

Fig. 2 Rietveld processed XRD pattern for the NMFSs with x = 0.0. Symbols are experimental data, the red line shows the fitting curve, and the blue line shows the differences curve.

Table 1 Structural data for the NMFSs. a_e is experimentally determined unit cell parameter, R_x is the XRD crystallite size, D_x is the XRD density, D_e is the experimentally determined density, P_e is experimentally determined porosity, S_e is the experimentally determined surface area, R_e is the experimentally determined crystallite size, ε is the lattice strain, and R_b, R_wp and GOF are the reliability factors

x	a e (Å)	R x (nm)	D x (g cm^−3)	D e (g cm^−3)	P e (%)	S x (m^2 g^−1)	S e (m^2 g^−1)	R e (nm)	ε × 10^−4	R b (%)	R wp (%)	GOF
0.0	8.373	5	5.237	2.987	42.9	238	143	14	6	6.8	9.21	0.89
0.2	8.380	10	5.223	2.872	45.0	117	127	17	13	7.6	10.02	1.21
0.6	8.414	9	5.152	2.634	48.8	133	124	18	16	7.3	10.12	1.31
0.8	8.427	9	5.122	2.517	50.8	137	130	18	23	7.1	10.44	0.84

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The theoretical calculation of the unit cell parameter can be performed taking into account the radii of the Fe^2+/3+/4+ and Mn^2+/3+/4+ ions that occupy tetrahedral and octahedral positions in the spinel structure. Such charge configurations were obtained via XPS measurements (Section 3.5), which gave Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Fe⁴⁺, Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺. A theoretical calculation of the a_t unit cell parameter using the high-spin state of these ions revealed that these values decrease with increasing Mn concentration. However, this behavior contradicts the experimental results. To solve this problem, a low-spin Fe²⁺ ion with a radius of 0.610 Å at the octahedral position and a high-spin Mn³⁺ ion with a radius of 0.645 Å in an octahedral position were used.⁵² The set of theoretically calculated a_t unit cell parameters with replacement by Mn is given in Table 2. The experimentally obtained value of the a_e parameter is somewhat lower than the theoretically obtained value of a_t. This behavior agrees satisfactorily with the reasonable notion that a_t should be greater than a_e, since a_t is calculated assuming that all the 96 ionic positions are occupied. This condition is not always met in practice. In contrast to this, a_e is determined when all the crystallographic positions are actually occupied by various cations.⁵³ In addition, Mn³⁺ ions tend to be located exclusively in A-positions. An increase in the x concentration of Mn³⁺ ions at the A-positions creates a certain disorder in the crystal lattice. This arrangement of Mn³⁺ ions pushes the smaller Fe³⁺ ions into the B-positions, increasing the radius of the A-position. This leads to an increase in ε deformation inside the crystal structure. A detailed full calculation of the specific value of the deformation of the crystal lattice of the spinel ferrite upon doping with manganese cations is a significant task, and such results will be presented in future work. The ε lattice strain is given in Table 1.

Table 2 The p part of Mn ions in the tetrahedral positions, where r_t is the tetrahedral position radius, r_o is the octahedral position radius, a_t is the theoretical parameter of unit cell, u is the oxygen parameter, and θ_i (i = 1–5) denotes the cation–anion angles for the NMFSs

x	γ	r t (nm)	r o (nm)	a t (nm)	u (Å)	θ 1 (°)	θ 2 (°)	θ 3 (°)	θ 4 (°)	θ 5 (°)
0.0	0.00	0.0595	0.0595	0.8452	0.3822	123.02	143.35	93.49	126.11	73.49
0.2	0.20	0.0592	0.0592	0.8462	0.3817	123.18	144.04	93.24	126.05	73.91
0.6	0.36	0.0602	0.0593	0.8481	0.3796	123.84	147.05	92.21	125.82	75.74
0.8	0.48	0.0608	0.05926	0.8489	0.3791	124.00	147.81	91.97	125.77	76.19

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The R_x XRD crystallite sizes were calculated using the Rietveld method. The S_x specific surface area of the NMFS crystallites was determined using the following equations:

where D_x is the theoretical XRD density, N_A is Avogadro's number, M is the molecular weight, and a_e is the experimental unit cell parameter. The experimentally defined density is found to be , where m is the mass and v is and the volume of the sample, which satisfactorily agreed with the fact that it is always lower than the D_x theoretical XRD density. This is observed because real crystals always contain defects in the form of vacancies.⁵⁴ With an increase in the concentration of manganese, the difference between the theoretical D_x and experimental D_e densities increases, and with it, the porosity also increases. This is well demonstrated in Table 1. In addition, the increase in the R_x XRD crystallite size with increasing manganese concentration satisfactorily corresponds to the change in the experimentally determined a_e unit cell parameter. The R_x XRD crystallite size varies within 5–10 nm. This behavior is generally recognized.^55–58 A change in the size of the crystallites with an increase in the x concentration of manganese ions can be associated with the presence of defects in the crystal structure, including substitutional ones, and the resulting ε deformations are the cause of the dispersion of the R_x XRD crystallite size⁵⁹ with an increase in the concentration of manganese.

The part of Mn ions at the A-position used for calculations for the NMFSs is given in Table 2. Taking into account the distribution of ions over the sublattices, the r_t tetrahedral position radius, the r_o octahedral position radius, the r_t0 tetrahedral position radius without substitution, the r_o0 octahedral position radius without substitution, and the theoretical a_t unit cell parameter were computed using the following:

r_A = (x − p)r_Mn³⁺ + (1 − x + p)r_Fe³⁺ (4)

r_B = (p)r_Mn³⁺ + (1 − x)r_Fe²⁺ + (1 + x − p)r_Fe³⁺ (5)

It should be noted that Mn ions tend to occupy octahedral positions in the case of the bulk ferrite spinel.⁶⁰ In the present case, as can be seen from Table 2, the Mn ions were found in tetrahedral positions, and with a concentration higher than in the octahedral positions. This can be explained by the nanometer sizes of the obtained NMFSs.⁶¹

As is well known, the intensity of Feⁱ⁺–O²⁻–Feⁱ⁺ indirect superexchange interactions depends critically on structural parameters such as bond angles. In ferrite spinels, they are represented by the values θ₁, θ₂, θ₃, θ₄ and θ₅. The intensity of the exchange is directly proportional to the bond angles, but inversely proportional to the bond lengths.⁶² To a first approximation, the exchange integral between the A–B positions depends on the bond angles θ₁ and θ₂, while between the A–A positions it depends on the bond angle θ₅. The bond angles θ₃ and θ₄ determine the exchange integral between the B–B positions.⁶³ An increase in the bond angles θ₁, θ₂ and θ₅ leads to an increase in the A–B and A–A exchange interaction, while a decrease in the bond angles θ₃ and θ₄ leads to a weakening of the B–B exchange interaction. The low concentration of Mn ions did not cause any significant migration of 3d-ions between the octahedral and tetrahedral positions. However, at higher concentrations such as x = 0.6 and 0.8, migration of a certain portion of the 3d-ions from the A-position to the B-position was observed, which, as expected, changed the bond angles.

3.2. EDX investigation

The SEM and EDX spectra are shown in Fig. 3(a–d). These data demonstrate the formation of the planned NMFSs. Some results are given in Table 3. The experimentally determined concentrations of the Mn ions satisfactorily correspond to the planned values within the measurement error. The δ oxygen ion deficit can be calculated by subtracting the number of oxygen ions experimentally determined using EDX from its ideal number of 4. The crystal lattice of samples x = 0.0–0.6 can be considered almost ideal, since the oxygen deficit is almost zero. This indicates that the co-precipitation method using an organic base as a precipitating agent is an excellent method for producing NMFSs.

Fig. 3 SEM images (left panels) and EDX spectra (right panels) for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (a and b) and x = 0.8 (c and d).

Table 3 Experimentally defined relative content of ions for the NMFSs and Δ degree of its deviation from the planned value (Δ)

x	Fe	Mn	O	Δ
0.0	47.72	—	51.59	0.3887
0.2	39.35	3.11	57.54	−0.0278
0.6	31.69	8.93	59.37	−0.1559
0.8	37.21	10.5	52.29	0.3397

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3.3. HRTEM investigation

HRTEM was applied to study the morphology and microstructure of the nanosized particles. Fig. 4 shows the HRTEM images of some of the NMFSs. The nanometer sizes of the obtained particles are visible in all the images. It is clearly seen that the crystallites of the sample are closely adjacent to each other and thus form certain agglomerations. The R_e size of an such agglomeration was computed knowing the value S_e for the specific surface area using the equation:The R_e size of the granules determined experimentally via SEM increase with an increase in the concentration of Mn ions. The dependences of R_e experimentally determined via SEM and R_x calculated from the XRD values are almost linear with a certain proportionality factor. This behavior may indicate that the grain most likely consists of several crystallites. Moreover, substitution by Mn ions that prefer A-positions supports the growth of grains during nucleation.^64–66

Fig. 4 HRTEM images for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (a) and x = 0.8 (b).

The features of the crystal structure of the NMFSs were studied using the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) method. Such a reciprocal diffraction image is shown in Fig. 5a, where periodically nested diffraction rings can be clearly seen. Such a diffraction pattern corresponds to the nanometer size of the crystallites. It confirms that nanometer crystallites are cubic particles with a spinel structure and contain practically no defects.⁶⁷ The identified lines of the reciprocal lattice, as shown in Fig. 5a, correspond to the (440), (333), (400), (311) and (220) planes of the cubic symmetry of the spinel structure with an interplanar spacing of ∼0.15 nm, ∼0.16 nm, ∼0.20 nm, ∼0.25 nm and ∼0.29 nm, respectively. Fig. 5b clearly shows two such characteristic distances between the corresponding lattice planes. These are distances of ∼0.25 nm and ∼0.29 nm, which correspond to the (311) and (220) planes, respectively, of the cubic lattice.⁶⁸

Fig. 5 SAED images of the NMFSs with x = 0.4 at RT: reciprocal diffraction at a scale of 5 nm⁻¹ (a) and SAED at a scale of 2 nm (b).

3.4. Specific surface area (S_e) investigation

Using the adsorption/desorption hysteresis data of the BET measurements presented in Fig. 6, it is possible to calculate the specific surface area of the investigated sample and its change during the process of substitution by manganese ions. The experimentally determined specific surface area values (S_e) of the nanosized crystallites are large compared with those previously reported for similar spinel ferrites prepared using other methods.^69–71 The measured S_e and calculated S_x values have a similar behavior depending on the concentration of manganese ions. The S_e and S_x values are in good agreement with the grain size results. It should be noted that the S_e values are lower than the S_x values because the grain size is larger than the crystallite size. It should be noted that the specific surface of a crystallite is also determined by some other factors, such as the amorphization of part of the crystallite surface, chemical disorder, and deformation and strain inside the lattice.⁷²

Fig. 6 BET (adsorption/desorption) hysteresis for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.00 (a) and x = 0.80 (b).

3.5. XPS investigation

Fig. 7 shows the XPS spectra of the NMFSs for Fe^2+/3+ ions. It is clearly seen that with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions, the humps of the non-monotonic dependences are shifted towards a low binding energy. This behavior confirms that the binding energy of the manganese ions is lower in magnitude.⁷³

Fig. 7 XPS spectra for the NMFSs at RT, with x = 0.0 (black line and symbols), x = 0.2 (red line and symbols), x = 0.6 (blue line and symbols), and x = 0.8 (green line and symbols).

Fitted XPS spectra of the NMFSs for iron ions are shown in Fig. 8(a–d). The Fe_2p spectra consist of an Fe_2p3/2 jump in the vicinity of ∼710 eV and an Fe_2p1/2 jump in the vicinity of ∼723 eV. The Fe_2p3/2 jump can be represented as being split into three humps for the Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Fe⁴⁺ ions at about ∼709, ∼711, and ∼714 eV, respectively. The Fe_2p1/2 jump can be represented as being split into two humps for the Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions at about ∼721 and ∼723 eV, respectively.⁷³

Fig. 8 Fitted XPS spectra of the NMFSs at RT for iron ions: x = 0.0 (a), x = 0.2 (b), x = 0.6 (c), and x = 0.8 (d).

Fitted XPS spectra of the NMFSs for manganese ions are shown in Fig. 9(a–c). The Mn_2p spectra consist of a Mn_2p3/2 jump in the vicinity of ∼642 eV and a Mn_2p1/2 jump in the vicinity of ∼653 eV. The Mn_2p3/2 jump splits into two humps for the Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ ions at about ∼642 and ∼645 eV, respectively. The Mn_2p1/2 jump can be represented by a single hump corresponding to Mn³⁺ at about ∼653 eV.^68,74,75

Fig. 9 Fitted XPS spectra of the NMFSs at RT for manganese ions: x = 0.2 (a), x = 0.6 (b), and x = 0.8 (c).

3.6. FT-IR investigation

The resulting spectra from the FT-IR study of the NMFSs, which are showed in Fig. 10, confirmed the proposed model on the distribution of ions and provided additional information on the valence of the ions and the position of the electronic bands of the metals.¹⁴ It should be recalled that spinel ferrites are characterized by four active IR bands, i.e., ν₁, ν₂, ν₃, and ν₄. Tetrahedral and octahedral complexes are responsible for the existence of the first three bands, while the fourth band is generated by lattice vibrations.⁷⁶ The obtained FT-IR spectra of the NMFSs are shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 10 FT-IR spectra for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (black line), x = 0.2 (red line), x = 0.6 (magenta line), and x = 0.8 (dark yellow line).

It is possible to emphasize some peculiarities of the dependencies in Fig. 10:

• Two extrema, designated as ν₁ and ν₂, are located in the vicinity of ∼440 cm⁻¹ and ∼600 cm⁻¹. With an increase in the concentration of manganese ions, the geometrical center of the ν₁ extremum shifts towards a decrease in frequency, while the geometrical center of the ν₂ extremum shifts towards an increase in frequency.

• The ν₄ extremum located near ∼250 cm⁻¹ is clearly detected for all the NMFSs with an almost constant position, while the ν₃ extremum appearing at substitution near ∼280 cm⁻¹ in the parent compound was not recorded.

• With an increase in the substitution concentration, the ν_A and ν_B extrema, which were initially recorded not far from ∼870 cm⁻¹ and ∼1008 cm⁻¹, respectively, shift towards higher frequencies.

Fig. 10 shows wide tetrahedral extrema in the region of 1545–1636 cm⁻¹. They are due to the valence band of Fe³⁺ ions in the tetrahedral position of the spinel.^77–79 As the substitution concentration increases, the size of the tetrahedral position increases, while the size of the octahedral position decreases. This behavior is determined by an increase in the number of covalent bonds of the emerging Fe³⁺ ions, as well as by the redistribution of some of the Mn³⁺ ions from the octahedral positions to the tetrahedral ones in the spinel structure. An increase in the size of the tetrahedral position (see Table 2) reduces the base frequency of the corresponding extremum, which is clearly fixed with substitution. A decrease in the size of the octahedral position (see Table 2) shifts the frequency of the extremum towards a low frequency.

The presence of the ν₃ extremum in the vicinity of ∼280 cm⁻¹ upon substitution for the NMFSs with x > 0.0 (see Fig. 7), is due to the strong interaction between trivalent Fe³⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions located in octahedral positions with divalent Fe²⁺ ions located in tetrahedral positions or due to the divalent bond Fe²⁺–O²⁻ from octahedral positions.⁷⁶ It should be noted that the appearance of the ν₃ extremum with substitution can be considered as a splitting of the ν₂ extremum as a result of the appearance of trivalent Fe³⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions in octahedral sites and an increase in their number. It is also known that the presence of the ν₄ extremum is determined by the mass of the divalent cation located in the tetrahedral position and depends on a certain type of vibration associated with the displacement of the tetrahedral cation.⁸⁰

The ν_A extremum is determined by divalent Fe²⁺ ions located in the octahedral position. The ν_B extremum is determined by the tetravalent Fe⁴⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ ions located in the tetrahedral position. Moreover, it should be noted that various tetravalent ions can appear in the dynamic mode as a result of electron hopping exchange. This interpretation satisfactorily agrees with the XPS data.⁷³

The expansion of the tetrahedral ν₁ extremum also has a contribution from the Jahn–Teller distortion of Fe²⁺ ions in the low spin state.⁷⁶ This situation leads to a non-cubic contribution to the potential of the crystal field, which causes local deformations. The sharpening of the shape of this ν₁ extremum with increasing substitution may indicate a change in the degree of inversion of the spinel structure.⁸¹ This result confirms the distribution of ions over the sub-lattices mentioned above.

The main reason for the sharpening of the tetrahedral ν₁ extremum is the presence of divalent Fe²⁺ ions in the tetrahedral position. Fe²⁺ ions can be displaced from tetrahedral positions to octahedral positions when the Mn³⁺ ions enter, converting a corresponding number of Fe³⁺, Fe⁴⁺, Mn³⁺, and Mn⁴⁺ ions to octahedral positions. The transition of some Fe³⁺ ions to the octahedral position instead of Fe²⁺ ions causes a certain deformation in the form of this tetrahedral ν₁ extremum, as well as splitting of the octahedral ν₂ extremum, which indicates that divalent Fe²⁺ ions in such samples are spatially ordered.

The K_t and K_o, strength coefficients for tetrahedral and octahedral positions, respectively, were calculated using the corresponding equations:⁸²

K_t = 7.62 × M_t × ν_A² × 10⁻⁷, (8)

K_o = 5.31 × M_o × ν_B² × 10⁻⁷ (9)

Here, M_t and M_o are the fractions of cations in the tetrahedral and octahedral positions, respectively. Table 4 lists the d_A and d_B bond lengths and the K_t and K_o strength coefficients, respectively, along with the resonance frequencies. As is well known, an increase in the bond length leads to a decrease in the strength coefficient. In addition, when the normal spinel transforms into the inversed form, the ν₁ frequency increases, while the ν₂ frequency does not change.^69,81 In this case, an increase in the position size and bond lengths also leads to a decrease in the strength coefficients via the hopping mechanism between heterovalent Mn³⁺, Mn⁴⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Fe⁴⁺ ions.¹⁴ An increase in the strength coefficients and a decrease in the position sizes and bond lengths for the octahedral sites confirm the presence of Fe²⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions in the tetrahedral positions. In this case, the Mn⁴⁺, Fe³⁺, and Fe⁴⁺ ions of smaller radius are displaced to octahedral positions. The results obtained from the XPS and FT-IR experiments cannot be derived from the results of the XRD experiment. However, such results can confirm the behavior of the unit cell parameter and strain.

Table 4 FT-IR parameters of the NMFSs

x	v 1 (cm^−1)	v 2 (cm^−1)	v 3 (cm^−1)	v 4 (cm^−1)	v A (cm^−1)	v B (cm^−1)	d A (nm)	d B (nm)	K t (N m^−1)	K o (N m^−1)
0.0	601	437	—	—	864	1012	0.1955	0.20147	380.026	185.74
0.2	600	440	282	254	871	1012	0.1972	0.20091	201.972	188.31
0.6	586	445	279	254	873	1008	0.2008	0.20016	191.197	192.62
0.8	584	448	279	254	878	1014	0.2025	0.19966	190.283	195.21

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3.7. Raman investigation

Fig. 11 shows the fitted Raman spectra of the NMFSs at RT. Since the samples have a cubic spinel structure with the Fd3̄m space group, five active Raman modes, i.e., A_1g, E_g, 1T_2g, 2T_2g, and 3T_2g, can be distinguished in the spectra presented. The main results of this experiment are given in Table 5. The main features of the Raman spectra are as follows:

Fig. 11 Fitted Raman spectra for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (a), x = 0.2 (b), x = 0.6 (c), and x = 0.8 (d).

Table 5 Raman parameters of the NMFSs

x	1T2g	Eg	2T2g	3T2g	A1g
0.0	237.8	302.7	455.8	556.6	606.8
0.2	229.5	281.6	379.3	453.4	561.3
0.6	232.7	291.5	439.8	557.6	604.5
0.8	225.8	275.2	369.1	447.4	557.3

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• The A_1g mode is located in the frequency range of 557–607 cm⁻¹ and is responsible for the symmetrical stretching of the distances between the iron and oxygen ions according to the Fe–O bonds.

• The E_g mode is located in the frequency range of 275–303 cm⁻¹, while the 3T_2g mode is located in the frequency range of 447–558 cm⁻¹. These modes are responsible for the symmetric and asymmetric stretching of the bond lengths of oxygen and iron ions.

• The 2T_2g mode is located in the frequency range of 369–456 cm⁻¹. It determines the asymmetry of the bond length between oxygen and iron ions.

• The 1T_2g mode is located in the frequency range of 225–238 cm⁻¹. It determines the vibrations of the FeO₄ tetrahedron.

The tetrahedral position is determined mainly by the A_1g mode, while the octahedral position is described mainly by the 3T_2g mode. The presence of these pronounced vibrational modes also indicates the existence of the spinel structure.^83,84 With an increase in the substitution concentration, a certain uniform monotonic shift towards lower frequencies is clearly recorded for all the modes without exception. This behavior is explained by changes associated with the distribution of ions between the tetrahedral and octahedral positions. During the process of substitution, the sizes of the tetrahedral and octahedral positions are redistributed as a result of the displacement of manganese and iron ions between these positions. The larger radius of the Mn³⁺ ion replaces the smaller radius of the Fe³⁺ ion in the tetrahedral position and the larger radius of the Fe²⁺ ion in the octahedral position. This behavior is confirmed by the XPS data, as well as the behavior of the bond lengths. The position of the Raman modes is also determined via the lattice disorder, substitutional defects, and by the surface pressure or the phonon confinement effect, which usually manifests itself in nanosized particles.⁸⁵

3.8. FMR investigation

The field dependence of the differential electromagnetic absorption spectra for all the NMFSs is shown in Fig. 12. The concentration dependence of the main absorbing parameters, such as the resonance field (H_r), the line width (ΔH), the number of spins (n_s) and the asymmetry ratio (r_a), were extracted from the shape of the spectra interpolated by the Gaussian distribution³³ and plotted in Fig. 13.⁸⁶ With an increase in the manganese ion content, the internal local magnetic field increases rapidly. At the same time, it was determined that the resonance is observed at low values of the magnetic field, which decreases with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions.

Fig. 12 First derivative of the absorption spectra with respect to the magnetic field for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (black line and symbols), x = 0.2 (red line and symbols), x = 0.6 (blue line and symbols), and x = 0.8 (green line and symbols).

Fig. 13 Concentration dependence of the fitting parameters for all the NMFSs at RT: H_r resonance field (a), ΔH line width (b), n_s spin number (c), and r_a asymmetry ratio (d).

The results on the absorption of electromagnetic radiation show that the ΔH line width is determined by the composition of the sample. As is known, White⁸⁷ emphasized that the introduction of a transition element into the lattice of a sample with an electron singlet increases the line width. Thus, the line width decreases with decreasing spontaneous magnetization. The shape and quality of the material, which includes but is not limited to spinel ferrite, affects the resonant parameters. So the random orientation of the crystallites and the presence of pores change the resonance parameters from point to point inside the material. This is expressed in the broadening and displacement of the resonant hump. The nanometer shape of the sample is expressed in the asymmetry of the resonant hump (see Fig. 12). These curves exhibit a steep rise with increasing field followed by a slow fall. The same behavior is typical for materials with long-range ferrimagnetic order. Thus, the absorption curve for all the NMFSs is asymmetric and steep towards a weak field, and the steepness increases with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions. This behavior is confirmed by the r_a asymmetry ratio plot presented in Fig. 13d.

The dependence of the ΔH line width can be understood on the basis of the theory of indirect superexchange and magnetic dipole interactions between manganese and iron ions in tetrahedral and octahedral positions.⁸⁸ The substitution of iron ions by manganese ions increases the magnetic dipole interaction. The decrease in the ΔH line width and the n_s number of spins for x = 0.8 is explained by the redistribution of manganese ions into octahedral positions from tetrahedral positions,³² as established by the results of X-ray diffraction analysis. This redistribution of ions also weakens their indirect superexchange interaction through oxygen ions. Thus, with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions, an increase in the ΔH line width and n_s number of spins should be observed.⁸⁹ However, a decrease in the line width at high concentrations of manganese ions can be explained by the nanometer size of the crystallite. Moreover, it is known that nanoscale samples exhibit a smaller line width than that previously reported for other spinel ferrites.⁹⁰ This behavior may contribute to the use of the NMFSs for low-loss electrical applications in the microwave range and in biomedicine.⁹¹

3.9. Magnetic investigation

Fig. 14 presents the field dependence of the NMFSs at RT. From these dependences, we can conclude that the samples are characterized by an insignificant saturation magnetization, while the coercivity is almost negligible H_c < 9 Oe. The shape of the presented magnetization curves indicates a superparamagnetic or spin glass state of the NMFSs. Such a form of hysteresis loops is observed for materials consisting of nanosized crystallites.⁹² It can be concluded that the energies of magnetic anisotropy and thermal fluctuations are comparable for the studied samples.⁹³ With an increase in the concentration of manganese ions, the coercivity and remanence decrease, and become almost equal to zero for x = 0.6. This magnetic behavior is explained by an increase in the content of manganese ions in tetrahedral positions. However, some increase in these magnetic parameters for x = 0.8 may indicate the location of a small amount of manganese ions in octahedral positions.

Fig. 14 Hysteresis loops for the NMFSs at RT: x = 0.0 (black line and symbols), x = 0.2 (red line and symbols), x = 0.6 (blue line and symbols), and x = 0.8 (green line and symbols).

As the manganese concentration increases, the M_s saturation magnetization increases, as can be seen from Table 6. The measured μ_m magnetic moment also increases with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions x due to an increase in the magnitude of local spins and the intensity of the Feⁱ⁺(Mn^j+)–O²⁻–Feⁱ⁺(Mn^j+) (i, j = 2, 3, 4) indirect superexchange interactions. It should be recalled here that iron ions have a strong tendency to occupy the octahedral positions, while manganese ions prefer to occupy the tetrahedral positions.⁴² Such a distribution of ions was confirmed by a combination of results from XRD experiments using the Rietveld method and the frequency shift of the FT-IR absorption humps.⁹⁴

Table 6 Experimentally obtained M_s saturation magnetization, M_r residual magnetization, and H_c coercivity

x	M s (emu g^−1)	M r (emu g^−1)	H C (Oe)
0.0	51	3	4
0.2	90	7	1
0.6	100	3	3
0.8	106	11	9

---

The M_T total magnetization of the sample with the ferrimagnetic lattice, in accordance with the Néel model, can be computed as the difference between the magnetizations of the sub-lattices M_B – M_A, where M_B and M_A are the total magnetic moments of the B sub-lattice and A sub-lattice, respectively.⁹⁵ The μ_t theoretical values of the magnetic moment according to the Néel model in Bohr magnetons per formula unit μ_B/f.u. can be determined taking into account the probable distribution of ions over the sub-lattices and knowing the ionic magnetic moments for μ_t(Mn³⁺) = 4μ_B, μ_t(Fe²⁺) = 4μ_B, and μ_t(Fe³⁺) = 5μ_B.⁹⁶ Here it should be recalled (see Table 2) that the r_t size of the tetrahedral position monotonically increases with an increase in the concentration of manganese ions, and the r_o size of the octahedral position first decreases at small x down to x = 0.2, and then increases at large x up to x = 0.8, which is explained by the redistribution of ions over the positions.

It can be seen from Table 6 that the M_s saturation magnetization values for all x are higher than those of the unsubstituted nanoferrite, which is ∼53 emu g⁻¹. Such a significant difference in the saturation magnetization values proves the existence of a non-collinear magnetic structure of the substituted compounds. In addition, the high saturation magnetization is determined by the high degree of crystallinity, which was obtained via the HRTEM method (see Fig. 4(a and b)) and the high degree of coherence obtained from the clear X-ray diffraction spectra (see Fig. 1(a–d)).

The crystallite sizes of the studied samples lie in the range of 14–18 nm (see Table 1), which is comparable to some previously published values for similar manganese magnetites (11–14 nm and 9–12 nm), but with a lower saturation magnetization.^41–43 For nanometer crystallites, the D_m magnetic diameter is small, and the thermal energy of chaotic motion becomes higher than the energy of magnetic crystallographic anisotropy. Therefore, for nanometer crystallites, the saturation magnetization does not have a preferred spatial orientation. Since the vibrations of ions are random, the nanosamples are characterized by paramagnetic, or rather, superparamagnetic properties.⁴¹

The slope of the field magnetization near zero can give the value of the D_m magnetic diameter. Since the largest crystallites make the main contribution to superparamagnetic magnetization, the upper limit of the D_m magnetic diameter can be found from the relation:

where k_B is the Boltzmann constant and ρ is the sample density.⁴¹ In this equation, is the initial magnetization slope near zero field, which was determined via extrapolation of the linear part of the data.

The R_e experimentally determined sizes of the crystallites (see Table 1) were compared with the calculated D_m magnetic sizes (see Table 7). The number of exchange-coupled spins is directly proportional to the particle size. The R_x crystallite sizes estimated via XRD are smaller than the R_e grain sizes determined from the BET results. This may indicate the possible presence of a disordered layer on the particle surface.⁹⁷

Table 7 Magnetic parameters measured μ_m, and calculated μ_A, μ_B, μ_t, θ_Y–K, and D_m

x	μ m (μB/ion)	μ A (μB/ion)	μ m (μB/ion)	μ t (μB/ion)	θ Y–K	D m (nm)
0.0	2.114	5.02	9.04	4.02	37.77	7.76
0.2	3.728	5.04	9.03	4.03	14.12	7.35
0.6	4.135	4.76	9.24	4.48	15.68	8.21
0.8	4.380	4.64	9.36	4.72	15.47	8.19

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More profoundly, after considering the particle size of the prepared samples and the magnetic diameter, it is also essential to discuss the vital role of the Yafet–Kittel angle (Y–K angle), which may affect the resultant magnetic moment. Measured magnetic moment μ_m values (corresponding to M_s) lower than the theoretical values may be explained by referring to the three-sublattice model suggested by Yafet and Kittel (Y–K model), which assumes the existence of the nonlinear spin arrangement in the system.⁹⁸ The presence of a canted spin and the behavior of the magnetic moment with an increasing Mn concentration may be proved by determining the Y–K angle according to the Y–K model (eqn (11)):

μ_m = μ_B cos θ_Y–K − μ_A (11)

where θ_Y–K denotes the Y–K angle (listed in Table 7).

It can be seen that the calculated value of the Y–K angle decreases dramatically with a small doping ratio of Mn concentration (x = 0.2) then decreases slightly afterwards with more doping of Mn ions, which is in good agreement with the saturation magnetization behavior, i.e., a significant increase at x = 0.2 then a slight increase afterwards. Non-zero Y–K angles suggest that the magnetization behavior is better explained by a non-collinear spin structure than a two-sublattice ideal model.⁹⁸ However, with x > 0.0, the decrease in spin canting angle (θ_Y–K) with increasing Mn content, which confirms the increased favor of collinear spin arrangements on the B sites, leads to an increase in the A–B exchange interaction inconsistency with the slight increase in the calculated bond angles (θ₁, θ₂, and θ₅) and the slight decrease of the calculated bond angles (θ₃ and θ₄) (see Table 2) supporting the strengthening of A–B exchange interaction and weakening of the B–B interaction, respectively.

In addition, it is found that the net number of magnetic spins calculated using FMR measurement increases upon increasing the value of x. In these samples, the improvement of collinear Néel type of magnetic ordering with Mn substitution may be attributed intrinsically to the increase in dominant A–B superexchange interaction and extrinsically to the increase in particle size. Also, the calculation of bond angles based on the proposed cation distribution indicates an increase in the superexchange interaction, in agreement with the magnetic calculations (see Table 2 and Table 7, respectively).

Besides, each nanoparticle is assumed to consist of ordered spins at the grain having the D_m magnetic diameter and canted spins on the surface, dead layer of the grain boundary. The increase in Mn doping is leading to a slight increase in the D_m magnetic diameter, resulting in a consequent decrease of the magnetically dead layer (the canted spins), and in turn, this leads to an increase in the magnetic moments, as observed in Table 7 and Fig. 13c.

The obtained and studied nanoparticles of doped spinel ferrite have great prospects for the delivery of drugs for cancer therapy,⁹⁹ including boron neutron capture therapy, upon modification of their surface with therapeutic substances. The samples also have broad biomedical prospects as anti-cancer agents for hyperthermia.

4. Conclusions

Four cubic spinel nanoparticle ferrite samples Mn_xFe_3–xO₄, with x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.6, and 0.8, were successfully obtained via the co-precipitation method using the organic base ethanolamine as the chelating agent. The XPS spectra, the FT-IR absorption peaks, and Raman spectral behavior confirmed the existence of different metallic ions of Mn and Fe. Both XRD and HRTEM proved the excellent crystallization of the as-prepared nanoparticles. Large specific surface areas have been estimated via BET measurements. The BET measurements enabled the successful calculation of the grain size to overcome the agglomeration of particles in the TEM images. FMR and VSM measurements have revealed superparamagnetic properties with a relatively high saturation magnetization of the prepared samples.

Author contributions

Conceptualization – R. E. E., M. A. D., A. V. T., S. V. T., and F. F.; methodology – R. E. E., H. E. S., S. A. S., M. U. K., and Z. M.; formal analysis – H. E. S., M. A. D., M. U. K., Z. M., H. M., K. C. B. N., A. V. T., S. V. T., and F. F.; investigation – R. E. E., H. E. S., S. A. S., M. A. D., A. V. T., and S. V. T.; resources – H. E. S., S. A. S., K. C. B. N., M. U. K., Z. M., F. F., A. V. T., and S. V. T.; data curation – M. A. D., M. U. K., M. A. I., A. V. T., S. V. T., and F. F.; writing (original draft preparation) – R. E. E., M. A. D., A. V. T., and S. V. T.; review and editing – M. A. D., A. V. T., and S. V. T.; visualization – H. E. S., S. A. S., K. C. B. N., and Z. M.; supervision – A. V. T., S. V. T, and F. F.; project administration – M. A. D., M. U. K., Z. M., A. V. T., S. V. T., and F. F.; funding acquisition – M. U. K., A. V. T. and S. V. T.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Prof. A. Matsuda (Matsuda Lab., Toyohashi University) for performing some measurements like HRTEM, BET, SEM, and EDX in his Lab. The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia for funding this work through Large Research Groups Program under grant number R.G.P2/274/44. Alex V. Trukhanov thanks NUST MISIS for support within the framework of the «Priority 2030» (K6-2022-043).

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