Yttrium ion influence on the structural, electrical, dielectric, and magnetic properties of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles synthesized via Sol-Gel method

Abstract

In this study, pure and Y3+ substituted Hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanostructure with various compositions, α-Fe2-xYxO3 (x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.05, 0.08 & 0.10), synthesized by using the Sol-Gel method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of both pure and Y-substituted α-Fe2O3 samples revealed a rhombohedral phase with the R3¯c space group, having crystallite sizes ranging from 23 to 48 nm. Moreover, the XRD findings align closely with Raman observations. The variation in grain size observed via FE-SEM correlates well with the crystallite size and strain determined by XRD measurements. The resistivity plots exhibited two distinct regions corresponding to two different conduction mechanisms. Analysis of the resistivity data suggests the presence of variable range hopping and nearest-neighbour hopping conduction mechanisms within temperature ranges of 100 K to 300 K and 300 K to 400 K, respectively. The dielectric and magnetic properties exhibit a fluctuating behaviour with the increasing concentration of the Y3+ doping. We observed a shift towards weakly ferromagnetic conduct-like behaviour with the introduction of Y3+ into the hematite nanostructures.