Structural and Magnetic Properties of Y3+ Doped Ni–Cu–Co Ferrites Prepared by Sol–Gel Auto‐Combustion Method

Abstract

In this work, rare earth Y3+ ion doped Ni0.2Cu0.2Co0.6Fe2−xYxO4 (x = 0.0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1) ferrite nanoparticles are synthesized by sol–gel auto‐combustion technology. High purity metal nitrates and citric acid are used as precursor solutions, and citric acid is used as a complexing agent. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements are used to investigate the effect of Y3+ doping on the structure and magnetic properties of the samples. The analysis of the XRD patterns confirms that all the samples showed cubic spinel structure. The FT‐IR also confirms the spinel structure of ferrite, and with the increase of Y3+ ion content, the peak of the Fe–O bond moved to high frequency. It has been proved that the synthesized ferrite has pure phase and structure by EDX, and Y3+‐doping is successfully achieved. The magnetic parameters of the samples are measured by VSM at room temperature with a maximum magnetic field of 1 T. By characterization with VSM it can be found that saturation magnetization and remanent magnetization increase first and then decrease with increasing doping amount of Y3+ ions. Compared with pure sample and other doped samples, the best magnetic properties are obtained when the doping amount of Y3+ ions is x = 0.025.