Effect of additional Zn2+ dopant on the ferromagnetic properties of Co-doped CeO2 nanoparticles prepared by sol–gel method

Effect of additional Zn2+ dopant on the ferromagnetism (FM) of Co doped CeO2 nanoparticles was studied. The Zn and Co co-doped CeO2 nanoparticles (Ce0.97−xZnxCo0.03O2: where x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) were prepared by sol–gel technique. The crystal structure, morphology, and magnetic properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy (Raman) and physical property measurement system (PPMS). XRD and Raman studied showed that certain amount of Zn2+ can readily be incorporated into the lattice of Co doped CeO2 with single-phase of CeO2 original cubic fluorite crystal structure, and no ferromagnetic secondary phase was observed. SEM images show Zn and Co co-doped CeO2 nanoparticles were spherical and uniform size. The PPMS studied indicate that the room-temperature FM of Co doped CeO2 nanoparticles increase with additional Zn2+ dopant. This result is helpful in understanding the origin of FM in diluted magnetic oxides (DMO) as well as improving the magnetic property of DMO.