Structural and magnetic studies of Cr3+ ion-doped Ni–Ba–Co ferrite

Abstract

Cr3+ ion-doped Ni–Ba–Co ferrite with the chemical formula Ni0.2Ba0.1Co0.7Fe2-xCrxO4 was prepared by the sol–gel route. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed spinel-phase structure of the prepared Cr3+ ion-doped Ni–Ba–Co ferrite. By Scherrer’s formula, the average crystallite size was calculated. Meanwhile, from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the absorption peaks around 590 cm− 1 were found; it can be inferred that the prepared samples had spinel structure. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that the prepared particles had spherical cube shape and were in the nanosize range. EDS analyzed the elements and ingredients of samples. Vibrating sample magnetometer results revealed that the values of Ms, Mr and Hc increased with Cr3+ ions doping level from 0 to 0.075; when x = 0.1, the above three slightly decreased. This indicates that proper doping content can enhance the magnetic properties. The material can be used for audio, videotape and high-density digital recording disk in information storage industry.