Effect of rare earth (Sm3+) substitution in mixed Ni-Zn-Co ferrites: Structural, magnetic, and DC electrical resistivity studies

Abstract

NiZnCo ferrite has good magnetic properties and is one of the core materials used in magnetic devices. The solid-state reaction approach is utilized to synthesize Ni0.4Zn0.35Co0.25Fe2-xSmxO4 (x = 0.0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.1) ferrites for investigation of structural, morphological, functional, magnetic and electrical resistivity properties using various characterization techniques. The techniques used for characterization were XRD, SEM, FTIR, VSM, and DC electrical resistivity. XRD spectra were used to determine phase confirmation, cubic crystallite size, andtheir variation with dopant content. No additional phase or impurity was found. The SEM pictures revealed ahomogeneous spherical particle formation with minimal porosity. With absorption bands under 1000 cm−1, FTIR spectra indicate the formation of a spinel structure. Tetrahedral (580 to 599 cm−1) and octahedral (388 to 399 cm−1) bond changes can be seen in infrared spectra. The magnetic hysteresis curves revealed soft ferromagnetic behavior, with coercivity (Oe) (532.13 to 312.10Oe) rising and saturation magnetization (Ms) (83.51 to 60.75 emu/g) falling as doping concentration increased. The DC electrical resistivity of synthesized nanoparticles with various compositions was measured against higher temperatures to confirm their semiconductor nature. The findings demonstrated the typical decreasing trend with rising temperature.