Abstract: The present work focuses on the effect of magnesium (Mg²⁺) substitution on structural studies of the nanocrystalline cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄). Nanosized magnesium doped cobalt ferrite powders with general formula Co_1-xMg_xFe₂O₄ (for x = 0.0, 0.50 and 1.0) were synthesized by sol-gel auto combustion method starting from metal nitrates and citric acid (C₆H₈O₇) as a fuel. The prepared samples were sintered at 550 ˚C for 4 h. The structural properties were estimated from X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The average particle size was calculated by using Debye Scherer’s formula using XRD data and is obtained to be 11-24 nm. The bulk densities (d_B) of all the samples were measured using Archimedes principle. The other structural parameters such as tetrahedral bond length (d_AX), octahedral bond length (d_BX), tetra edge (d_AXE) and octa edge (d_BXE) were calculated from XRD data.

Keywords: cobalt ferrite, nanocrystalline, sol-gel, XRD.