TiO2-Doped Ni0.4Cu0.3Zn0.3Fe2O4 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Structural and Magnetic Properties

Atomic-scale observation of calcium occupation in spinel cobalt ferrite towards the regulation of intrinsic magnetic properties

Spinel ferrites have drawn intensive attention because of their adjustable magnetic properties by ion doping, among which calcium (Ca) is an essential dopant that is widely employed in massive production. However, its exact lattice occupation and relationship with intrinsic magnetic properties remain unclear. Here, we successfully prepared Ca-doped cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles by electrospinning. Ca2+ is observed to occupy both the tetrahedral Fe site and the octahedral Co site using spherical aberration correction transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and prefers to occupy the octahedral site at a high doping level. Such dual occupation behavior affects the tetrahedral and octahedral sublattices differently, resulting in nonmonotonic saturation magnetization variation, reduced magnetocrystalline anisotropy and negative magnetization in the zero field cooling (ZFC) process. By controlling the Ca doping amount, increased saturation magnetization and reduced coercivity can be obtained simultaneously. Our findings establish the relationship between the atomic-scale structural change and the macroscopic magnetic properties of spinel ferrites, promoting the development of new ferrite materials.

An amplified electrochemical sensor employing one-step synthesized nickel-copper-zinc ferrite/carboxymethyl cellulose/graphene oxide nanosheets composite for sensitive analysis of omeprazole

In this work, a signal amplification strategy was designed by the fabrication of a highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor based on nickel-copper-zinc ferrite (Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/graphene oxide nanosheets (GONs) composite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for determination of omeprazole (OMP). The one-step synthesized Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4/CMC/GONs nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Then, the Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4/CMC/GONs/GCE was applied to study the electrochemical behavior of the OMP. Electrochemical data show that the Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4/CMC/GONs/GCE exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance on the oxidation of OMP compared with bare GCE, GONs/GCE, CMC/GONs/GCE and MFe2O4/GCE (M = Cu, Ni and Zn including single, double and triple of metals) which can be attributed to the synergistic effects of the nanocomposite components, outstanding electrical properties of Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4 and high conductivity of CMC/GONs as well as the further electron transport action of the nanocomposite. Under optimal conditions, the Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4/CMC/GONs/GCE offers a high performance toward the electrodetermination of OMP with the wide linear-range responses (0.24-5 and 5-75 μM), lower detection limit (0.22 ± 0.05 μM), high sensitivity (1.1543 μA μM-1 cm-2), long-term signal stability and reproducibility (RSD = 2.54%). It should be noted that the Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4/CMC/GONs/GCE sensor could also be used for determination of OMP in drug and biological samples, indicating its feasibility for real analysis.

Multifunctional Core-Shell NiFe2O4 Shield with TiO2/rGO Nanostructures for Biomedical and Environmental Applications

Multifunctional core@shell nanoparticles have been synthesized in this paper through 3 stages: NiFe2O4 nanoparticles by microwave irradiation using Pedalium murex leaf extract as a fuel, core@shell NiFe2O4@TiO2 nanoparticles by sol-gel, and NiFe2O4@TiO2@rGO by sol-gel using preprepared reduced graphene oxide obtained by modified Hummer’s method. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of both cubic NiFe2O4 spinel and tetragonal TiO2 rutile phases, while Raman spectroscopy analysis displays both D and G bands (ID/IG = 1.04) associated with rGO. Morphological observations by HRTEM reveal a core-shell nanostructure formed by NiFe2O4 core as confirmed by SAED with subsequent thin layers of TiO2 and rGO. Magnetic measurements show a ferromagnetic behavior, where the saturation magnetization drops drastically from 45 emu/g for NiFe2O4 to 15 emu/g after TiO2 and rGO nonmagnetic bilayers coating. The as-fabricated multifunctional core@shell nanostructures demonstrate tunable self-heating characteristics: rise of temperature and specific absorption rate in the range of ΔT = 3–10°C and SAR = 3–58 W/g, respectively. This effectiveness is much close to the threshold temperature of hyperthermia (45°C), and the zones of inhibition show the better effective antibacterial activity of NTG against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains besides simultaneous good efficient, stable, and removable sonophotocatalyst toward the TC degradation.