Abstract
Manganese (Mn)- and yttrium (Y)-substituted Sr-nanohexaferrites (MYSNHFs) of composition Sr1-xMnxFe12-xYxO19 (with 0.0 <= x <= 0.5) were prepared by citrate sol-gel autocombustion method. As-prepared MYSNHFs were characterized via diverse analytical techniques to determine the influence of Mn and Y cosubstitution on their microstructures and magnetic properties. Fe-57 Mossbauer spectra of the MYSNHFs were used to evaluate the variation in the line width, isomer shift, quadrupole splitting, and hyperfine magnetic field values. It was shown that the dopant ions could preferentially occupy the 12k, 4f(2), and 2b sites. Furthermore, the observed shift in the blocking temperatures of the studied MYSNHFs towards lower values with rising Mn2+ and Y3+ contents was attributed to the overall particles size reduction. Meanwhile, the AC susceptibility of the proposed MYSNHFs revealed that the magnetic interactions were weakened with the increase in dopant contents which was ascribed to the replacement of both Sr2+ and Fe3+ ions by the Mn2+ and Y3+ dopants.