The Effect of Honey Addition on the Properties of CoFe2O4‎‏ Nanoparticles Synthesized by the Sol-Gel Auto-Combustion Method

In recent years, cobalt ferrite nanoparticles have ‎attracted the attention of many researchers due to their vast industrial applications. In this regard, the current study aimed to synthesize ‎CoFe2O4‎ nanoparticles in the presence of different amounts of honey (0, 0.5, 1, ‎‎1.5, 2, and 2.5 g) through the sol-gel auto-combustion method. In order to investigate the microstructure as well as the structural and ‎magnetic properties of the synthesized samples, XRD, DTA/TG, FTIR, ‎FESEM, ‎and VSM analyses were carried out. The phase analysis confirmed that the ‎high-purity cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were formed after the calcination process. The FTIR results showed that ‎the intensity of the organic bands was significantly reduced ‎by adding honey. However, the presence of this agent caused severe changes in the ‎morphology of nanoparticles ‎and also their magnetic properties. Reducing the particle and average grain sizes of the nanoparticles by the addition of ‎honey caused an increase in their coercivity and consequently, their ‎magnetic parameters were enhanced to about 1580 Oe in the sample containing 1.5 g of honey. In addition, the saturation ‎magnetization increased in the ‎presence of honey, compared to the raw sample.