Spinel cobalt ferrite-based reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites: Synthesis, structural, morphological, optical and thermal analysis

The study aims to synthesize a cobalt ferrite-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite. This study describes the hydrothermal production of a nanocomposite made of cobalt ferrite-reduced graphene oxide (CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO). The materials were characterized using a variety of analytical techniques to show that cobalt ferrite was successfully attached to RGO sheets. The cubic spinel structure of the produced CoFe 2 O 4 nanomaterials resembles with the previous researches. The rise and fall of d-spacing of GO (7.78 Å) from graphite (3.25 Å) and to RGO (3.63 Å) indicates successful oxidation of graphite and reduction of GO. The XRD of CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO composite preserved the crystallinity of cubic spinel CoFe 2 O 4 and showed the successful composite preparation. The uniform distribution of CoFe 2 O 4 on RGO sheets were found in morphological examination . The presence of an M − O band of the cobalt ferrite in the FTIR spectra of CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO at 588 cm −1 and the corresponding decrease in peak intensity indicates the establishment of chemical connection between RGO and CoFe 2 O 4 . The I D /I G ratio of the CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO (1.15) composite has been increased from the I D /I G ratio of RGO (0.99). Comparatively higher I D /I G value at the CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO composite proves to have a good connection between RGO and CoFe 2 O 4 . The measured saturation magnetization ( M s ) value of 24.11 emu/g proved the superparamagnetic behavior of CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO composite. Saturation magnetization, remanence magnetization and coercivity values were found to be reduced due to the addition of nonmagnetic RGO with CoFe 2 O 4 from the hysteresis loop of CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO. The comparative weight loss of GO, CoFe 2 O 4 and CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO due to the rise of temperature have been presented in thermogravimetric analysis curve. Thus, successful formation and finding potential physical characteristics of CoFe 2 O 4 -RGO composite were the novel aspect of the present work.