Effect of copper content on the structural properties of the CuxCo1-XFe2O4 Nanostructured Spinel Ferrite Based on Williamson-Hall Analysis

Abstract

The current study investigated the effect of replacing cobalt ions (Co⁺²) with copper ions (Cu⁺²) to modify the physical properties of the       Cu_xCo_1-xFe₂O₄ nanocomposite at x-values of 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 deposited using the sol-gel combustion method. Structural analysis was performed using X-ray diffraction patterns and the Williamson-Hall method. The patterns revealed polycrystalline ferrites without distinct peaks associated with copper. The dominant phase of crystal growth was toward the (311) diffraction peak, with a noticeable shift of the diffraction peaks toward the lower diffraction angle with increasing x content. It was observed that the crystal lattice constant decreased while the intensity of the diffraction peaks increased with increasing x-content. The study showed that the prepared film has a lattice constant of 0.8361 ± 0.005 nm with an X-ray density of 5.347 g/cm³ for the sample with x = 0.15. In addition, crystallite size varied from 10.74 nm to 20.46 nm, and microstrains from -0.00255% to -0.00309% were observed with varying x-content ratios.