One-pot solvothermal synthesis and performance of mesoporous magnetic ferrite MFe2O4 nanospheres

A series of metal ferrite mesoporous MFe 2 O 4 (M = Mn, Co, and Ni) nanospheres with an average diameter of about 100–300 nm were synthesized through a one-pot template-free solvothermal method in ethylene glycol (EG) solution. The effect of reaction parameters on products was characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, physical property measurement system, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and volumetric nitrogen adsorption. The XRD patterns indicate that all the samples were formed in single phase spinel structure. By changing Co 2+ to different cations, MnFe 2 O 4 , NiFe 2 O 4 , and ZnFe 2 O 4 with different magnetic properties could be obtained. The mesoporous MnFe 2 O 4 with a large surface area of 140.8 m 2 /g and an average pore size of 12.6 nm were obtained. Furthermore, magnetic properties of M-ferrite nanospheres could be tuned by changing substituted metal cations. The possible growth mechanism of mesoporous nanospheres was discussed on the basis of the investigation of reaction parameters.