Preparation of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles via a novel solvothermal approach using divalent iron salt as precursors

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles are synthesized by a facile novel solvothermal method. The reactions are firstly performed in water–glycol system and Fe2+ salt is used as iron source without oxidant help. Some factors influenced the reactions, including temperature, reaction time, additives, are investigated. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The magnetic properties of some samples are detected by vibrating sample magnetometry techniques (VSM). It is firstly found that the magnetism of cobalt ferrites nanomaterials can be modified by some additives. The coercivity of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles evidently decreases from 600 to 50 Oe in the presence of PEG-4000 in the system.