Structural, electrical, magnetic and dielectric properties of rare-earth substituted cobalt ferrites nanoparticles synthesized by the co-precipitation method

Pure nanoparticles of the rare-earth substituted cobalt ferrites CoRExFe2-xO4 (where RE = Nd, Sm and Gd and x=0.1 and 0.2) were prepared by the chemical co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), d.c. electrical conductivity, Magnetic hysteresis and Thermal analysis are utilized in order to study the effect of variation in the rare-earth substitution and its impact on particle size, magnetic properties like M-S, H-C and Curie temperature. The phase identification of the materials by X-ray diffraction reveals the single-phase nature of the materials. The lattice parameter increased with rare-earth content for x <= 0.2. The Transmission electron micrographs of Nd-, Sm- and Gd-substituted CoFe2O4 exhibit the particle size 36.1 to 67.8 nm ranges. The data of temperature variation of the direct current electrical conductivity showed definite breaks, which corresponds to ferrimagnetic to paramagnetic transitions. The thermoelectric power for all compound are positive over the whole range of temperature. The dielectric constant decreases with frequency and rare-earth content for the prepared samples. The magnetic properties of rare-earth substituted cobalt ferrites showed a definite hysteresis loop at room temperature. The reduction of coercive force, saturation magnetization, ratio M-R/M-S and magnetic moments may be due to dilution of the magnetic interaction. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.