Role of neodymium substitution on the structural, magnetic and microwave absorbing properties of nickel ferrites

Abstract

The neodymium substituted nickel ferrites with a nominal composition of NiNdxFe(2-x)O4 (with x = 0.00; 0.01; 0.03; 0.05; 0.06; 0.08 and 0.10) were successfully synthesized by milling technique. The NiO, Nd2O3 and Fe2O3 powders were used as raw materials and were prepared in a mole ratio. The characterization of the samples was done by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and vector network analyzer (VNA). In this study, the PXRD showed and verified that all Nd3+ ion successfully substituted the NiFe2O4 samples with a single cubic spinel phase. Infrared spectra showed two strong absorption bands in the frequency range of 405–420 cm−1 and 595–610 cm−1, which were respectively attributed to tetrahedral and octahedral sites of the spinel ferrites. The SEM revealed homogenous morphology on all NiNdxFe(2-x)O4 but still not uniform powders. The particle size of the powder ranged from 150 to 700 nm. The magnetic properties of all of the samples showed a ferrimagnetic behavior. The Ms value was decreased when the Hc increased with increases in the Nd3+ substitution value. The ability to absorb the microwave measured by VNA shows the enhancement of the microwave attenuation where the Nd3+ substitution increased. The microwave attenuation changes increased from 91.25% to 98.32%. It can be seen that the composition of x at 0.05 promises to be new material for microwave absorption.