Nanocrystalline particulates of Er doped cobalt-ferrites CoFe(2−x)ErxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.04), were synthesized, using sol-gel assisted autocombustion method. Co-, Fe-, and Er- nitrates were the oxidizers, and malic acid served as a fuel and chelating agent. Calcination (400–600 °C for 4 h) of the precursor powders was followed by sintering (1000 °C for 4 h) and structural and magnetic characterization. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of single phase of spinel for the compositions x = 0, 0.01, and 0.02; and for higher compositions an additional orthoferrite phase formed along with the spinel phase. Lattice parameter of the doped cobalt-ferrites was higher than that of pure cobalt-ferrite. The observed red shift in the doped cobalt-ferrites indicates the presence of induced strain in the cobalt-ferrite matrix due to large size of the Er+3 compared to Fe+3. Greater than two-fold increase in coercivity (∼66 kA/m for x = 0.02) was observed in doped cobalt-ferrites compared to CoFe2O4 (∼29 kA/m).

Er-substituted cobalt-ferrites CoFe2−xErxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.04) were synthesized by sol-gel assisted auto-combustion method. The precursor powders were calcined at 673–873 K for 4 h, subsequently pressed into pellets and sintered at 1273 K for 4 h. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of the spinel phase for all the compositions and, additional orthoferrite phase for higher compositions (x = 0.03 and 0.04). The XRD spectra and the Transmission Electron Microscopy micrographs indicate that the nanocrystalline particulates of the Er-substituted cobalt ferrites have crystallite size of ∼120–200 nm. The magnetization curves show an increase in saturation magnetization (MS) and coercivity (HC) for Er-substituted cobalt-ferrites at sub-ambient temperatures. MS for CoFe2O4, CoFe0.99Er0.01O4, CoFe0.98Er0.02O4, and CoFe0.97Er0.03O4 peak at 89.7 Am2/kg, 89.3 Am2/kg, 88.8 Am2/kg, and 87.1 Am2/kg, respectively, at a sub-ambient temperature of ∼150 K. HC substantially increases with decrease in temperature for all the compositions, while it peaks at x = 0.01−0.02 at all temperatures. The combination of Er content—x ∼ 0.02 and the temperature—∼5 K provides the maximum HC ∼ 984 kA/m. Er-substituted cobalt-ferrites have higher cubic anisotropy constant, K1, compared to pure cobalt-ferrite at ambient/sub-ambient temperatures. K1 gradually increases for all compositions in the temperature decreasing from 300 to 100 K. While K1 peaks at ∼150 K for pure cobalt-ferrite, it peaks at ∼50 K for CoFe0.99Er0.01O4, CoFe0.98Er0.02O4, and CoFe0.96Er0.04O4. The MS (∼88.7 Am2/kg), at 5 K, for Er substituted cobalt-ferrite is close to the highest values reported for Sm and Gd substituted cobalt-ferrites. The MS (∼83.5 Am2/kg) at 300 K for Er-substituted cobalt-ferrite is the highest among the lanthanide series element substituted cobalt-ferrites. The HC (at 5 K) for Er substituted cobalt-ferrite is close to the highest values observed for La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Gd substituted cobalt-ferrites.

The electronic structure of hybrid perovskite compositions of FA0.83 Cs0.17 PbI3−xBrx (x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5) is determined using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and UV–Vis–NIR absorption spectroscopy. With the help of UPS, ionization potential and Fermi energy are determined, and using absorption measurements, bandgap values are obtained. It is observed that for FA0.83 Cs0.17 PbI3−xBrx, as the Br content increases, the bandgap increases. The UPS measurements confirm the n-type nature of all compositions. Additionally, the Hall measurements were carried out for the selected compositions and the n-type carrier concentrations were determined.

Conversion of PbI2 into FAPbI3.