Structural, optical and magnetic studies of Ce doped NiFe2O4 nanoparticles

Structural, optical and magnetic properties of NiCexFe2-xO4 (x = 0.0-0.10) nanoparticles prepared by the chemical route, have been studied. All the samples exhibit pure spinel phase except that with x = 0.10. Crystallite size decreases gradually from 57 to 17 nm as the Ce concentration increases from 0 to 0.10. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows that in comparison to pure nickel ferrite, the bands corresponding to Fe-O vibration are shifted towards higher wave number after doping with Ce. The Mossbauer spectra for all the compositions show the presence of two sextets at room temperature showing the ferrimagnetic character of the samples. Magnetic hysteresis curves show that the saturation magnetisation changes from similar to 41.8 emu/g for pure nickel ferrite to similar to 31.6 emu/g after doping with Ce = 0.10. However, the variation of magnetic moment with Ce concentration is irregular. The cation distribution in the samples shows the mixed spinel structure. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.