Structure, morphology, optical and magnetic studies of Fe3O4-doped CdS nanocomposite

The possibility to integrate the different nanomaterials offers a perfect chance to obtain new nanocomposites with new features that were not unavailable in the single components. Most of the transition magnetic elements-doped II-VI compounds show paramagnetic, antiferromagnetic, or weak ferromagnetic states. Therefore, nanocomposites of CdS and Fe3O4 with different concentrations of Fe3O4 (0%, 1%, 3%, and 5%) were prepared by a simple, cheap, and controlled chemical precipitation method. The structure, morphological, optical, and magnetic properties of the prepared nanocomposite samples were studied. Cubic phase structure was observed for both Fe3O4-doped CdS. The HRTEM images show that Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) are in close contact with CdS nanoparticles (NPs) and formed small particle clusters with cubic shapes. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) gave bright rings that confirms the crystalline nature of the prepared nanocomposites. The optical transition energy gap slightly increased by the addition of Fe3O4 to 3% and then decreased by further addition. In contrast, the refractive index and dielectric constant showed a slight decrease by the addition of Fe3O4 till 3% and then increase with further addition. Vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM) results demonstrate the ferromagnetic characteristic of the nanocomposites compared to the diamagnetic character of CdS.

Automated summary

The possibility to integrate different nanomaterials offers the opportunity to obtain new nanocomposites with unique features. This study prepared CdS and Fe3O4 nanocomposites with varying concentrations of Fe3O4 and investigated their structure, morphology, optical, and magnetic properties. The results showed that the addition of Fe3O4 affected the optical and dielectric properties, while the nanocomposites exhibited ferromagnetic behavior.