Dysprosium doped Cu0.8Cd0.2DyxFe2-xO4 nano ferrites: A combined impact of Dy3+ on enhanced physical, optical, magnetic, and DC-electrical properties

Abstract

The current study focuses on the influence of rare-earth Dy3+ ion substitution on the structural, optical, electrical, and magnetic properties of Cu0.8Cd0.2Fe2O4 nano-ferrites. A series of Dy3+ doped Cu–Cd nano-ferrites with the chemical composition of Cu0.8Cd0.2DyxFe2-xO4 (x = 0.00, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.10) were fabricated by CSGAC (citrate sol-gel auto combustion) technique using the corresponding elements in nitrate state and grounded powders were calcined at 650 °C for 4 h. These ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) structural, optical, magnetic, and electrical properties were investigated using P-XRD, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, FTIR, UV–Vis, ESR, VSM, and I–V measurements. The purity of the crystal structure, phase formation, and the various structural parameters of Cu–Cd-Dy nanoparticles have been analyzed from P-XRD data. The evaluated crystalline size ranges between 13.82 and 18.32 nm, and the lattice constant is between 8.349 and 8.385 Å. We observed the particles-size of 40–60 nm from HR-TEM and the grain size of 48–80 nm from FE-SEM images. The observed FTIR spectra demonstrated the spinel structure in the presence of the stretching bonds of metal-oxides and functional groups. The semiconducting character of the produced NPs is confirmed by the optical bandgap, which is in the range of 1.62 eV–1.73 eV. The g-value obtained from the electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is in the range of 2.613-2.333. The coercivity (Hc) reduced from 557.29-183.89 Oe at 300 K and 749.85-410.72 Oe at 15 K, respectively, with Dy3+ concentration. The maximum saturation magnetization obtained at 300 K temperature for x = 0.025 is 32.53 emu/g, whereas at 15 K for x = 0.1 is 38.85 emu/g. The results of the present examined samples with improved Hc, Ms, and Mr values at low temperature (15 K) than room temperature (300 K) revealed that Dy3+ doped Cu0.8Cd0.2Fe2O4 nanoparticles are helpful for high-density recording media application. By increasing the Dy3+ addition, the resistivity values were observed to increase from 9.107×106 to 1.166×108 Ω-cm.