Comparative investigation of CuFe2O4 nano and microstructures for structural, morphological, optical and magnetic properties

Highlights: • Copper ferrite nanostructures were crystalline, spherical and average size of 19 nm. • Copper ferrite were prepared by environmentally friendly process from fuel. • The process of the oxygen vacancies/valence/conduction band was studied. CuFe₂O₄ nanocrystals were synthesized by the sol–gel method (SGM) and microwave method (MM) by using sucrose as a fuel. The structural, morphological, optical and magnetic properties of the products were determined and characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD results confirmed the formation of cubic phase CuFe₂O₄. The formation of CuFe₂O₄ nano and microstructures were confirmed by HR-SEM. Photoluminescence emissions were determined by PL spectra, respectively. The relatively high saturation magnetization (78.22 emu/g) of CuFe₂O₄-MM shows that it is ferromagnetic and low saturation magnetization (35.98 emu/g) of CuFe₂O₄O-SGM confirms the super paramagnetic behavior.