Enhanced magnetic property and antibacterial biomedical activity of Ce3+ doped CuFe2O4 spinel nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method

•Rare earth element Ce3+ doped CuFe2O4 NPs prepared by simple sol-gel route.•Ce3+ ions were fruitfully substituted into CuFe2O4 matrix without any distortion.•XRD and SEM along with EDX studies confirmed the spinel phase formation.•Magnetic properties altered by the substitution of Ce3+ into CoFe2O4 matrix. In the present study, spinel copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles (NPs) doped with different concentrations of rare earth element (REE) Cerium (Ce3+) ions were synthesized by the simple sol-gel combustion technique. REE Ce3+ ions were successfully doped into the spinel lattice of CuFe2O4 NPs without any distortion. It was analyzed that the influence of Ce3+ ions on structure, surface morphology, magnetic behavior and antibacterial activities using different instrumental techniques such as powder XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, SAED and VSM, etc. Powder XRD results and SEM images along with EDX techniques confirmed the spinel phase formation of pure and Ce3+ doped CuFe2O4 NPs with spherical shaped morphology without any other secondary phase impurity. It also was further confirmed by TEM and SAED analysis. The magnetic behavior of the Ce3+ doped CuFe2O4 NPs was recorded using the VSM technique at room temperature (RT). The magnetic characterizations have been altered by the addition of Ce3+ ions in the CoFe2O4 lattice. The antibacterial properties of Ce3+ doped CuFe2O4 NPs was found to be enhanced with increase in Ce3+ concentrations as it cause a reduction in the grain size.