PARAMETERIZATION OF MAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES MATHEMATICAL MODEL USING EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS

In this paper, the evolutionary algorithms approach is applied to the parameterization of a mathematical model describing the Mössbauer spectra of nanogranular (or nanoparticle) magnetic systems. These systems exhibit physical properties very different from bulk specimens being of great interest for material science and its use as biosensors, magneto sensors, data storage, and magnetic fluids. The purpose of this work is to compare the performance between the Differential Evolution and the Evolutionary Strategies algorithms to optimize the model parameters which best fit the experimental Mössbauer spectra of nanoscale magnetic particles. Spectra of two samples (α‐iron foil and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles) were recorded, at room temperature, by a conventional Mössbauer spectrometer using a scintillation detector in transmission geometry with a 57Co/Rh source. Fits to Mössbauer spectra were done using spin hamiltonians to describe both the electronic and nuclear interactions; a model of superparamagnetic relaxation of two levels (spin ½) and stochastic theory; a lognormal particle size distribution function as well as a dependency of the magnetic transition temperature and the anisotropy constant on particle diameter. The evolutionary algorithms have been implemented using Python programming language. For comparison, the two algorithms obey the termination criterion of 6,000 evaluations of the objective function. The results presented show the efficiency of these algorithms in the optimization of the parameters and on the fits of the spectra.

Magnetic and Mössbauer Spectroscopy Studies of Zinc-Substituted Cobalt Ferrites Prepared by the Sol-Gel Method

Zinc ion-substituted cobalt ferrite powders Co1−xZnxFe2O4 (x = 0–0.7) were prepared by the sol-gel auto-combustion process. The structural properties and magnetic of the samples were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD), superconducting quantum interference device, and a Mössbauer spectrometer. The results of XRD showed that the powder of a single cubic phase of ferrites calcined when kept at 800 °C for 3 h. The lattice constant increases with increase in Zn concentration, but average crystallite size does not decrease constantly by increasing the zinc content, which is related to pH value. It was confirmed that the transition from ferrimagnetic to superparamagnetic behaviour depends on increasing zinc concentration by Mössbauer spectra at room temperature. Magnetization at room temperature increases for x ≤ 0.3, but decreases for increasing Zn2+ ions. The magnetization of Co0.7Zn0.3Fe2O4 reached maximum value (83.51 emu/g). The coercivity decreased with Zn2+ ions, which were doped on account of the decrease of the anisotropy constant.