CeO 2 /NiTiO 3 nanocomposites; synthesis, photoluminescence and magnetic behavior

Abstract

Pure phase NiTiO 3 was obtained via a modified sol-gel method. Addition of CeO 2 in a modified oxidizing atmosphere in stearic acid at 750 °C led to the growth of several nanoscaled Ce-rich phases. The formation of NiTiO 3 and CeO 2 /NiTiO 3 was strongly confirmed based on metal-oxygen and metal-metal absorption bands. The nanometric formation of crystals and narrow distribution of nanoparticles were confirmed by XRD and FE-SEM. The magnetic properties indicated weak ferromagnetic behavior of NiTiO 3 and paramagnetic behavior of CeO 2 /NiTiO 3 nanocomposites. The paramagnetic properties were improved gradually into superparamagnetic upon increasing CeO 2 domain to 30 mol%. It was observed that the current density can achieve 1 × 10 −9 A/cm 2 for the sample containing 30 mol% CeO 2 at an electrical field equal to 40 V/cm.