Solution combustion synthesis of nanostructured Mg0.5Ni0.3Cu0.2CexFe2-xO4 ferrites: structural, optical and electromagnetic properties

In this study, the synthesized rare earth Ce 3+ ion doped Mg-Ni-Cu ferrites with composition formula Mg 0.5 Ni 0.3 Cu 0.2 Ce x Fe 2-x O 4 (0.0 ≤ X ≤ 0.1) using solution gel auto-combustion method. Synthesized ferrite samples were systematically investigated for their structural, morphology, optical, and dielectric properties at varying temperatures and magnetic properties at room temperature. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the formation of the cubic spinel phase with the Fd-3 m space group, and reviled the development of a secondary phase of cerium oxide CeO 2 from the cerium concentration was increased to X = 0.04. The FESEM micrographs of our prepared ferrites show the nano-pores surface and spherical shape grains. EDX confirms the presence of all desired elements. FTIR studied supports the XRD finds. UV–vis spectra showing the blue shift along all samples, and Tauc plots giving the highest band gap energy of 2.54 eV were obtained for the X = 0.06 sample, and the lowest for X = 0.02 is 2.38 eV. VSM instrument was adopted to evaluate the magnetic behaviour of our prepared ferrites at room temperature. The magnetic hysteresis loop confirmed the ferromagnetic behaviour. Ce 3+ substitution remarkably affected prepared material coercivity, and magnetic saturation was found between 15.22 emu/g and 22.41 emu/g. The squareness ratio of prepared material was found between 0.19 and 0.26, and it is known that the squareness ratio values fall in the range of multi-domine sates (0.05–0.5). Dielectric properties of synthesized ferrites were produced with normal ferrite plots with higher dielectric constant values. Most significantly, observed very low dielectric loss tangent values. The impedance analysis confirms the dominance of grain boundary resistance with only one semi-circle.