Cation Distribution of ZnFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 Spinels From Anomalous X-Ray Scattering

Abstract

Abstract The distribution of Zn2+ and Co2+ cations in ferrite spinels has been determined by applying anomalous X-ray scattering (AXS) near the K absorption edges of Fe, Co and Zn. The energy dependence of the reflection intensities of ZnFe2O4, detected at the Fe K and Zn K absorption edges, can only be explained when all Zn2+ being allocated to the tetrahedral site formed by oxygens. On the other hand, the results for CoFe2O4 suggest that 78% of Co2+ occupy the octahedral site, and that the present CoFe2O4 sample is classified as inverse spinel, although a partial disorder is included. The usefulness of this AXS method coupled with the common Rietveld analysis was well-recognized by determining the cation distribution even in a system with next neighboring elements of the periodic table.