Impact of Gd3+ and Nd3+ ions substitution on structural and magnetic properties of Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 ferrite system

Co0.5Ni0.5(Gd/Nd)xFe(2-x)O(4) (x = 0.0 and 0.06) ferrites were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. These materials were characterized by XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy, and VSM techniques. The XRD analysis revealed the phase formation of all samples and their cubic spinel structure with the Fd-3m space group. Lattice constant was found to increase due to Gd and Nd ions substitution. However, the crystallite size was observed to decrease by the substitution effect. The FT-IR spectra showed the two vibrational frequency bands of the tetrahedral and octahedral sites. From the magnetic properties study, it was identified that the pure and Gd substituted Co0.5N- i(0.5)Fe(2)O(4) ferrite showed a ferromagnetic behaviour. While the Nd substituted Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 ferrite delivered a superparamagnetic behaviour. The substitution of Gd and Nd changed the values of the magnetic parameters of Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 ferrite. An increase in the saturation magnetization (Ms) value was observed due to substitution of Gd and Nd in Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 ferrite, indicating that Gd and Nd substitution strengthen the supermagnetic interactions in Co0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 ferrite. The highest value of Ms was observed in Gd doped sample.