Synthesis, structural and magnetic properties of NiFe1.96Al0.02Gd0.02O4 nanoparticles (NFAGO)

Abstract

An attempt is made to find out the structural and magnetic properties of Al3+ and Gd3+ doped nickel ferrite in this literature. The substitution of doping creates additional phases in the respective materials, which plays an important role in many technological applications due to their controlled physical properties. Over the substitution of Al3+ and Gd3+ in pure NiFe2O4 decrease in the saturation magnetization (Ms) and Curie temperature (Tc) of the nickel ferrite. Therefore, NiFe1.96Al0.02Gd0.02O4 nanoparticles were synthesized and investigated for their structural and magnetic properties considering a good candidate for high-frequency applications. NiFe1.96Al0.02Gd0.02O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by employing the sol-gel auto-combustion technique using glycine as a fuel. X-ray diffraction studies of NiFe1.96Al0.02Gd0.02O4 nanoparticles were carried out to study the structural parameter and phase purity. XRD pattern revealed the presence of Bragg’s reflections which belong to the cubic spinel structure. The crystallite size (t) was estimated using Debye-Scherrer’s formula and found to be 21.18 nm which is again determined by the Williamson-Hall method and found to be 20.69 nm following our expectations. The measurement of magnetic parameters was carried out by M–H plot which was recorded using pulse-field hysteresis loop tracer at room temperature. Using the M-H plots the values of saturation magnetization (Ms), remanence magnetization (Mr), and coercivity (Hc) were recorded as 34.59 emu/g, 12.14 emu/g, and 291 Oe respectively.