The effect of dysprosium on nickel–cadmium spinel ferrites

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present work, Ni0.6Cd0.4Dy x Fe2-x O4 (x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by using sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed that the pure and dysprosium substituted Ni–Cd ferrites are in single-phase spinel structures, while a trace of DyFeO3 appears as a minor phase for higher concentrations (x = 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20). The Debye–Scherrer’s method and Williamson–Hall (W-H) method were used to evaluate the crystallite sizes and lattice strain. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that reduction of grain size with Dy3+ content. Elemental composition features of samples were examined by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The average particles size estimated from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis is in good agreement with results obtained from XRD. The results showed that saturation magnetization (M s) decreases and coercivity (H c) increases with an increase in Dy3+ concentrations. The dielectric constant was found to decrease with increasing Dy content in Ni–Cd ferrites.