Characterization of Gd-Sm-Y doped barium hexaferrite synthesized by Sol-Gel auto-combustion: Structural, magnetic and DFT investigation

In this work, we synthesized for the first time BaFe12-3xGdxSmxYxO19 nanoparticles (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02) by Sol-Gel auto-combustion. The crystallinity of was study by X-ray analysis, which confirmed the hexagonal structure of all samples, and a slight iron oxide appeared in the case of the highest doping (x = 0.02). The SEM images revealed platelet-like hexagonal shapes, and size is from 140 to 200 nm. Purity and dopant evaluation were study suc-cessively by FTIR, XPS and EDS analysis, confirming the presence of all elements and the formation of crystal-lographic sites. Magnetic measurements confirmed the ferrimagnetic behavior of the samples. DFT calculations were used to confirm the experimental results. These nanoparticles have great potential for a variety of nano-technology applications.