Structural, electrical, magnetic, and anti-cancer properties of Gd-doped Mg–Cd ferrites

Abstract

In this study, we report structural, electrical, magnetic, and anti-cancer properties of pure and Gd3+ ion-substituted Mg–Cd ferrites produced via a sol-gel auto-combustion synthesis process. The prepared Gd-doped and undoped Mg–Cd-based ferrite's physical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) to find structural properties, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) for surface area analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to understand morphological status and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) used for elemental confirmation. XRD reveals that 900 °C sintering temperature for 5 h gives us the purest form of cubic spinel structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) suggests no changes in bonds while increasing the dopant. The study of temperature-dependent dielectric constants showed a significant peak in the dielectric constant at around 109 between 300 °C and 400 °C. Subsequently, the trend shifted towards a decreasing order. Surprisingly, the dielectric loss has yielded meager numbers. Magnetic characteristics were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM); magnetic saturation increased as dopant concentration rose. This material is beneficial in high-frequency device applications, low-loss antennas, and radomes due to its dielectric and magnetic characteristics. The anti-cancer study suggests that it is more efficient at inhibiting cancer cells than normal cells. Also, the anti-microbial and anti-cancer characteristics suggest it can be useful in biomedical applications.