In this work, a facile and green method for gadolinium doped cobalt ferrite (CoFe 2-x Gd x O 4 ; x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) nanoparticles by using ultrasonic irradiation was reported. The impact of Gd 3+ substitution on the structural, magnetic, dielectric and electrical properties of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles was evaluated. The sonochemically synthesized spinel ferrite nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirmed the formation of single phase spinel ferrite of CoFe 2-x Gd x O 4 nanoparticles. XRD results also revealed that ultrasonic irradiation seems to be favourable to achieve highly crystalline single crystal phase gadolinium doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles without any post annealing process. Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman Spectra confirmed the formation of spinel ferrite crystal structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the impact of Gd 3+ substitution in CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles on cation distribution at the tetrahedral and octahedral site in spinel ferrite crystal system. The electrical properties showed that the Gd 3+ doped cobalt ferrite (CoFe 2-x Gd x O 4 ; x= 0.20) exhibit enhanced Page 2 of 42 dielectric constant (277 at 100 Hz) and ac conductivity (20.2 x 10 -9 S/cm at 100 Hz). The modulus spectroscopy demonstrated the impact of Gd 3+ substitution in cobalt ferrite nanoparticles on grain boundary relaxation time, capacitance and resistance. Magnetic property measurement revealed that the coercivity decreases with Gd 3+ substitution from 234.32 Oe (x=0.00) to 12.60 Oe (x=0.05) and further increases from 12.60 Oe (x=0.05) to 68.62 Oe (x=0.20). Moreover, saturation magnetization decreases with Gd 3+ substitution from 40.19 emu/g (x=0.00) to 21.58 emu/g (x=0.20). This work demonstrates that the grain size and cation distribution in Gd 3+ doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles synthesized by sonochemical method, is effective in controlling the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties, and can be find very promising applications.Keywords: Sonochemical Synthesis, Cavitation, Nanoparticles, Magnetic Property, Dielectric Property, Impedance and Modulus Spectroscopy
IntroductionSpinel ferrite nanoparticles have a vast potential for several scientific and technological Their studies on the well regenerability of the adsorbent in addition to its high adsorption capacity make it promising for such adsorption applications. The enhancement of adsorption capacity with the assistance of ultrasound was due to the hydrodynamic and thermal processes of acoustic cavitation. E.A . Dil et. al. [26] reported the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticle-loaded activated carbon (CuO-NP-AC) and used as an efficient adsorbent for the ultrasound-assisted simultaneous removal of the Pb 2+ ion and malachite green (MG) dye. This research group observed that the...