Sonochemical synthesis of Gd³⁺ doped CoFe₂O₄ spinel ferrite nanoparticles and its physical properties

In this work, a facile and green method for gadolinium doped cobalt ferrite (CoFe_2-xGd_xO₄; x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) nanoparticles by using ultrasonic irradiation was reported. The impact of Gd³⁺ 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-xGd_xO₄ 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 Gd³⁺ substitution in CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles on cation distribution at the tetrahedral and octahedral site in spinel ferrite crystal system. The electrical properties showed that the Gd³⁺ doped cobalt ferrite (CoFe_2-xGd_xO₄; x=0.20) exhibit enhanced dielectric constant (277 at 100Hz) and ac conductivity (20.2×10^-9S/cm at 100Hz). The modulus spectroscopy demonstrated the impact of Gd³⁺ substitution in cobalt ferrite nanoparticles on grain boundary relaxation time, capacitance and resistance. Magnetic property measurement revealed that the coercivity decreases with Gd³⁺ substitution from 234.32Oe (x=0.00) to 12.60Oe (x=0.05) and further increases from 12.60Oe (x=0.05) to 68.62Oe (x=0.20). Moreover, saturation magnetization decreases with Gd³⁺ substitution from 40.19emu/g (x=0.00) to 21.58emu/g (x=0.20). This work demonstrates that the grain size and cation distribution in Gd³⁺ 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.