The impact of rare earth Nd3+ cations on structural, spectral, magnetic and dielectric parameters of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

The co-precipitation route was used for the preparation of Nd-substituted NiFe2O4. The proposed general formula of prepared ferrite was NdxNiFe2-xO4. Here, “x” the moles of Nd3+ were 0.0, 0.0125, 0.025 and 0.05 in various compositions. The prepared nanocrystallites were characterized using X-rays diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and impedance analyzer. XRD patterns of all prepared samples were analyzed to confirm the phase of the materials and determine the lattice constant, crystallite size and X-rays density. The lattice parameter value varied between 8.3501 and 8.3549 Å. The average crystallite size was ∼15 nm. The FTIR spectral analysis was used to investigate the M-O stretching vibrational bands. FTIR spectra showed the stretching vibrational bands of Fe-O at octahedral and tetrahedral sites. After structural and spectral investigations, the prepared nanocrystallites were subjected to room temperature magnetic measurements by vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) technique. The magnetic parameters were investigated from the VSM data. The magnetic parameters suggested the possible utilization of these nanocrystalline ferrites for various advanced technological applications like switching devices and high-frequency devices. The dielectric parameters were also investigated using an impedance analyzer.