Synthesis, Structural and Magnetic Properties of Gadolinium-Doped Ni–Zn Ferrites Synthesized by Sol–Gel Auto-Combustion Route

Abstract

AbstractNi–Zn ferrite nanoparticles with chemical formula Ni0.65Zn0.35GdxFe2-xO4 (x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) were prepared by sol–gel auto-combustion method. The lattice constant, porosity, crystallite size and X-ray density were determined from the XRD data. The size of the crystallites was in the range of 14.64–26.5 nm. Induced lattice strain has been determined with the help of Williamson–Hall method and found that lattice strain increases with Gd. Morphological investigation suggests that the formation of grain grows as the Gd3+ content x is increased. FE-SEM micrographs and TEM images confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with narrow size distribution. The elemental composition of the samples with varying Gd dopant was confirmed through the EDX technique. The saturation magnetization, remanence, anisotropy constant (K) and coercivity of the Ni–Zn samples were determined from VSM study. The saturation magnetization, coercivity, remanence and anisotropy constant decrease with increase in Gd3+ concentration ‘x’ in Ni–Zn ferrite. Gd-doped nanoferrites with varying structural and magnetic properties have potential application in various fields such as switching, magnetic storage and microwave absorption applications.KeywordsSol–gel methodSpinel ferritesXRDFE-SEMTEMMagnetic properties