Influence of Ga3+–Al3+ Co-substitution on the Structural and Morphological Characteristics of Spinel CoFe2O4 Nanoparticles

Abstract

CoFe2-2XGaXAlXO4 (x = 0.1 and 0.3) nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel auto-combustion method and characterized to investigate their structural and morphological properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of a single-phase cubic spinel structure with no detectable impurity phases. The diffraction peaks corresponding to the (220), (311), (222), (400), (422), (511), and (440) planes indicated high crystallinity and successful incorporation of Ga³⁺ and Al³⁺ ions into the CoFe2O4 lattice. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed nearly spherical nanoparticles with slight agglomeration and particle sizes of 40–70 nm, demonstrating the suitability of the synthesized ferrite nanoparticles for multifunctional applications.