Influence of divalent metal ion (Zn2+) on magnetic properties, curie temperature and DC electrical properties in Ce3+ substituted Ni-Zn ferrites

Abstract

Nanoparticles of Ni1−xZnxCe0.1Fe1.9O4 ferrite substituted with Zn2+ ion concentrations (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 & 1.0) have been synthesised via aqueous citrate precursor auto combustion method. The obtained Powder x-ray diffraction data suggests a good crystalline phase; the crystallite size exists in the range of 14 ∼ 38 nm. The lattice constant of samples increases with Zn2+ concentration. It validates Vegard’s law and the decreasing trends in porosity of the samples were identified. The inhomogeneity in the grains was confirmed from FE-SEM. The EDS spectrogram attributes the good stoichiometry in the product. The Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the crystallization occurred within the temperature 800 °C. The high-temperature DC conductivity of the samples shows that NTC behaviour. The Curie temperature and activation energy are estimated and the activation energy of carriers are found to be more at the paramagnetic region. The magnetic saturation (‘Ms*’) has maximum for Zn2+ = 0.2 (57.7 emu g−1) and coercive field (Hc) related with a radius of occupancy of Zn2+ ion validates the relation and also, the value of the remanence ratio suggests that isotropic magnetization took place in the heterogeneous material.