Abstract
Effect of rare earth substitution on the magnetic properties of Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4 ferrite.
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Doped spinel ferrites (Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4R0.05Fe1.95O4 (R = Eu3+, Sm3+, Gd3+ and Pr3+) were synthesized via co-precipitation method with ultrasound irradiation for 2 h at T = 90 °C and dissipated power Pdiss = 46.27 W. The prepared samples were characterized by different techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and photoluminescence (PL) emissions. The experimental results show that co-precipitation method coupled with ultrasound irradiation can lower the crystallite size (15–18 nm) and favors in getting a single spinel phase. Analysis of EDS and FTIR spectra indicates the fruitful insertion of the rare earth cations into ferrite lattice. The saturation magnetization (Ms) measured using VSM at room temperature increases with increasing ionic radius (Eu3+ ≥ Gd3+ > Sm3+ > Pr3+). The photoluminescence properties of these samples are investigated using 240 nm excitation wavelength radiation sources. No changes in PL peaks positions are noted for all samples except their intensities during the experimental analysis.