Crystal structure refinement, morphological, and magnetic properties of ternary nanohybrid PrxMn0.5Co0.5Fe2-xO4 (0.00 < x < 0.04) spinel ferrite

Rare earth Pr3+ ion substituted in the Mn - Co spinel ferrite was prepared via. sol-gel route. The phase composition of the prepared samples was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Rietveld refinement confirms the single phase for the samples (x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.02) and shows a secondary phase for the samples with higher concentrations of Pr3+ (x = 0.03 and 0.04). The absorption band occurs within 400-600 cm(-1) which affirms the formation of spinel ferrite by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) micrograph reveals the presence of porous morphology and non-uniform grain growth inhomogeneous in size and shape due to the agglomeration present in the prepared sample. A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) study reveals all the samples exhibit a ferromagnetic nature. The coercivity (H-c) increases from 441.78 to 557.32 Oe and then decreases to 503.48 Oe. Owing to the basis of large surface area, presence of pore size, and soft magnetic nature synthesized spinel ferrites are best suitable for supercapacitor electrode material.