Variation in structural and mechanical properties of Cd-doped Co-Zn ferrites

Abstract

Synthesis of cadmium doped cobalt zinc ferrite (Co0.5Zn0.5Cd1.5xFe2−xO4) series with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 by solid state method and analysis of structural properties using XRD, FTIR, and SEM characterization. To understand the decomposition behavior of the precursors of samples TG/DTA analysis was carried out. TG/DTA/DSC shows that reaction is endothermic in nature and the reaction completion temperature at around 730 °C. The XRD characterization of the samples affirms the cubic spinel structure. Grains in the samples are having nature of octahedron, tetrahedron and granular depicted by SEM images. The FTIR spectra of synthesized ferrites evidenced two strong absorption bands (ν1 and ν2) in the range of 400–600 cm−1 belonging to tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) interstitial sites. In XRD analysis, the shrinkage of unit cell is observed at higher doping concentration. The peak (3 1 1) shown the maximum intensity for x = 0.0, whereas peak (3 1 0) shown maximum intensity for x = 0.5. Williamson Hall (WH) plot and size-strain plot (SSP) results show the variation in the grain size with change in doping concentration. The doping of cadmium plays an important role in crystal growth as observed in SEM images. In FTIR analysis, peaks shift towards lower wave number with raise in doping concentration.