The impact of Ru and Gd dopants on the dielectric and conductive properties of NiO nanoparticles: A comparative study

Abstract

This comparative study investigates the difference between the transition metal (Ru) and rare earth element (Gd) as dopants in NiO nanoparticles, to unveil their suitability in various applications. Pure, Ru- and Gd-doped NiO nanoparticles have been synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method, in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone, as a capping agent. The EDX pattern revealed the purity, the un-stoichiometric nature of the synthesized nanoparticles, and the influence of the Ru- and Gd-dopants in generating advantageous structural imperfections, including oxygen and nickel vacancies. The dielectric and conductivity measurements have provided valuable insights into the electrical behavior of Ru- and Gd-doped NiO nanoparticles. The influence of the Ru- and Gd-dopants on the Debye model, universal dielectric model, and relaxation mechanism was implemented. The dielectric constant was affected by the dopants, where the Ru-dopants reduced it by a factor of 0.24, however, the Gd-dopants boosted it by a factor of 4. Moreover, the opposing influence of the Ru- and Gd-dopants on the nickel vacancies has tuned the ac conductivity of the NiO lattice, where it was reduced by 75 % with Ru-dopants due to the suppressed nickel vacancies and enhanced by 70 % with the Gd-dopants due to the augmented nickel vacancies. The dc conductivity was examined at ranging temperatures to explore the conduction mechanism and the effect of the dopants. The multi-functional ability of the pure, Ru- and Gd-doped NiO nanoparticles was tested by studying the complex power and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), from which the dominating capacitive and resistive nature is identified for the samples. Besides, NiO nanoparticles have attained a maximum TCR value of −10.41 %, rendering it a superior material for bolometric devices, even better than the used conventional materials. The studied dielectric and conductive properties unveiled the potential applicability of the samples in microelectronics, storage capacitor applications, and bolometric devices.