Structural, mechanical, dielectric properties and magnetic interactions in Dy3+-substituted Co-Cu-Zn nanoferrites.

Sol-gel-synthesized Co-Cu-Zn ferrite nanoparticles diluted with Dy3+ ions were investigated in terms of their structural, morphological, elastic, magnetic and dielectric properties. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the formation of a single-phase cubic spinel structure. As the concentration of Dy3+ ions was increased, the lattice length gradually increased from 8.340 to 8.545 Å, obeying Vegard's law. The Williamson-Hall (W-H) method was employed to observe the change in the lattice strain. Crystallite size obtained from W-H plots followed a pattern similar to that observed using the Scherrer equation. The cation distribution suggested a strong preference of Dy3+ ions for the octahedral B site while Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions were distributed over both A and B sites. The microstructures of the samples were visualized using transmission electron microscopy. Mechanical properties such as stiffness constant, longitudinal and transverse wave velocities, Young's modulus, bulk modulus, rigidity modulus, Poisson's ratio and Debye temperature were investigated by acquiring infrared spectra recorded in the range of 300 to 800 cm-1. Replacement of Fe3+ ions with the strongly magnetic Dy3+ ions increased the saturation magnetization and coercivity. Dielectric constant increased with Dy3+ substitution but decreased with applied frequency.

Effect of La3+ Impurity on Magnetic and Electrical Properties of Co-Cu-Cr-Fe Nanoparticles.

In this work a series of Co0.7Cu0.3Cr0.5La(x)Fe1.5-(x)O4 were synthesized via sol-gel auto-combustion technique through the incorporation of La3+ into the raw powders. The structural magnetic and resistivity properties of the synthesized Co-Cu-Cr-La ferrites were investigated. X-ray diffraction data indicated that, after La3+ doping, samples consisted of the main spinel phase in combination with a small amount of a foreign LaFeO3 phase. The addition of La3+ resulted in the reduction of particle size and an increase of porosity of the synthesized samples. The infrared spectra were recorded on the range from 300-800 cm(-1). The two primary bands corresponding to tetrahedral v1 at 595-605 cm(-1) and octahedral v2 at 389-413 cm(-1) were observed. The octahedral site radii increased rapidly with La3+ substitution while the tetrahedral site radii slowly increased. Deviation from the ideal oxygen positional parameter is found to decrease with La3+ substitution. The saturation magnetization of the samples decreased with the amount of La3+ ions doped and the coercivity shows an opposite trend. La3+ substitution affects the hopping between Fe2+ <-> Fe3+, resulted in increase in resistivity.