Effect of Ce3+ on structural, morphological, dc electrical resistivity and magnetic studies of Co nano ferrites

[Display omitted] •The single phase CoFe2-xCexO4 (x = 0.0, 0.04, 0.08, and 0.12) was synthesised using the sol–gel auto-combustion method with citric acid fuel.•XRD data confirms the presence of the cubic spinel structure of the ferrite nanoparticles.•The FESEM findings show that the particles are homogenous, uniformly dispersed, and slightly aggregated.•The FTIR spectrum shows a strong ferrite microstructure and the main effects of the chemical combination.•It has been found that the magnetic properties decrease as Ce3+ concentrations increase. The sol-gel auto-combustion method produced rare earth Ce3+ substituted Cobalt ferrite nanomaterials, CoFe2-xCexO4 (x = 0.0, 0.04, 0.08, and 0.12). An X-ray diffractometer, a Field effect scanning electron microscope, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, a DC electrical resistivity, and a vibrating sample magnetometer were used to investigate them. The structural, dc resistivity and magnetic properties were examined using standard techniques. XRD analysis revealed a cubic spinel structure in a single phase without any impurity phase for all the prepared samples. With increasing Ce3+ content, a decrease in crystallite size was observed according to Scherrer's formula. Grain size and surface morphology determined from FESEM analysis were 20 to 30 nm. The samples' cubic spinel ferrite properties may be seen in the FTIR data, which show two distinct absorption bands related to the octahedral site at 400 cm−1 and the tetrahedral site at 600 cm−1. FTIR also confirms the presence of Ce3+ in the crystal structure. As the Ce3+ content increases, the DC resistivity decreases, confirming the material's semiconducting nature and temperature increase in all the synthesized samples. The magnetic behaviour strongly influences the substitution of Ce3+ ions. The samples' paramagnetic properties are enhanced by saturation magnetization. The size of the particles affects their coercivity. For the use of nano cobalt ferrite particles in high-density recording media, the MS and HC can be modified.