A review of synthesis, characterization, and magnetic properties of soft spinel ferrites

This article has focused on the structural characteristics, magnetic behavior, synthesis procedures, and applications of the most important soft spinel ferrites. Magnetic ceramics tend to be named ferrites owing to the Latin route ferrum and are divided into hard (hexaferrites) and soft (spinels and garnets). Among soft ferrites, spinels have received special attention during the last decades. Spinels with a chemical formula of AB2O4 crystallize in the cubic (isometric) crystal system and are thermally and chemically stable oxides appropriate for a wide range of purposes. These applications tend to be be named microelectronic ones, magnetic memories, ferrofluids gas sensing, water purification, absorber coatings, catalysis, biomedicine, antibacterial activities, and contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging. For this reason, this paper attempts to give an overview of the magnetic properties, structural behavior, applications, and synthetic methods of spinels.