Influence of neodymium substitution on structural, magnetic and spectroscopic properties of Ni-Zn-Al nano-ferrites

Abstract

Ni0.6Zn0.4Al0.5Fe1.5-xNdxO4ferrite samples, withx= 0.00, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1, were synthesized using the sol-gel method. The effects of Nd3+doping on the structural, magnetic and spectroscopic properties were investigated. XRD Rietveld refinement carried out using the FULLPROF program shows that the Ni-Zn ferrite retains its pure single phase cubic structure withFd3¯mspace group. An increase in lattice constant and porosity happens with increasing Nd3+concentration. FTIR spectra present the two prominent absorption bands in the range of 400 to 600 cm-1which are the fingerprint region of all ferrites. The change in Raman modes in the synthesized ferrite system were observed with Nd3+substitution. The magnetization curves show a typical transition, at the Curie temperatureTC, from a low temperature ferrimagnetic state to a high temperature paramagnetic state. The saturation magnetization, coercivity and remanence magnetization are found to be decreasing with increasing the Nd3+concentration.