Investigation of thermal stability and magnetic properties of ZnO coated Mn <inf>0.6</inf> Zn <inf>0.4</inf> Fe <inf>2</inf> O <inf>4</inf> nanoparticles

Fine particles of Mn 0.6 Zn 0.4 Fe 2 O 4 (MZF) are prepared by sol-gel method and investigated the structural and magnetic properties by coating the particles with passive shell. Among different samples coated on MZF we have observed in ZnO coated sample the fraction of spinel phase is increased by diminishing Fe 2 O 3 phase compared to the all other samples. The saturation Magnetization of the MZF sample is 2.67 emu/g decreased to 1.87emu/g for the sample coated with ZnO and annealed at 600 °C. From the present investigation we conclude that the reduction of impurity phase is due surface layer reaction that results in formation of new impurity phase.