Testing of optical, dielectric and photocatalytic properties of Ce3+ doped cobalt-cadmium nanocomposite for high frequency devices and wastewater treatment

A series of Co0.5Cd0.5Fe2-xCexO4 (0.00 <= x <= 0.1) nanoferrites was produced using a sol-gel method. The impact of Ce3+ doping on structural, optical, dielectric and photocatalytic characteristics of the nanoferrites was quantified. On Ce3+ doping, the particle size, cell volume and lattice constant decreased from 20.8 nm to 12.6 nm, 607.70 angstrom(3) to 586.24 angstrom(3) and 8.470 angstrom to 8.369 angstrom, respectively. The M O stretching at tetra and octahedral lattice sites in FTIR and Raman analyses revealed pure spinel structures of the as-synthesized nanoferrites. On Ce3+ doping, the band gap energy increased from 2.35 eV to 2.86 eV. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and dielectric tangent loss showed a decreasing trend with an increase in applied frequency and Ce+3 content. AC conductivity also showed similar trend with Ce+3 substitution, but this trend reverses with a rise in applied frequency. These findings suggest that Ce+3 doped Co-Cd is a highly suitable material for construction of high frequency devices. The Ce+3 content of Co-Cd photocatalyst did not affect much the photocatalytic activity up to a certain limit of x = 0 to 0.04. However, a further increase in Ce+3 content notably suppressed the photocatalytic activity of Co-Cd. Thus, slight insertion of Ce+3 in Co-Cd samples is supportive to strong photocatalytic activity under the visible light.

Automated summary

A series of Ce3+ doped Co-Cd nanoferrites were synthesized and their structural, optical, dielectric and photocatalytic characteristics were investigated. Ce3+ doping led to a decrease in particle size, cell volume, and lattice constant, as well as an increase in band gap energy. The photocatalytic activity of Co-Cd was not significantly affected by Ce3+ doping within a certain range, but further increase in Ce3+ content notably suppressed the photocatalytic activity.