Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Tb3+ substituted Co nanoferrites prepared via sonochemical approach

This paper emphasizes the structure, morphology, optical, and magnetic properties of sonochemically prepared terbium-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles, CoTbxFe2-xO4 (0.00 ? x ? 0.10). The formation of cubic spinel nanosized ferrite structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The crystallites sizes were found in the range of 11–14 nm. Ultraviolet–visible percentage diffuse reflectance investigations were performed on pristine and Tb3+-doped cobalt spinel ferrite CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. The direct energy band gap (Eg) values were determined by applying the Kubelka–Munk theory and Tauc plots were found to be in a narrow band range of 1.37–1.44 eV. Analyses of magnetization versus the magnetic field (M(H)) were performed. The magnetic parameters, including the saturation magnetization (Ms), squareness ratio (SQR = Mr/Ms), magnetic moment (nB), remanence (Mr), and coercivity (Hc) were evaluated. The M(H) curves exhibited a soft ferrimagnetic nature. It was demonstrated that the Tb3+ substitutions strongly influenced the magnetization data. Indeed, the Ms, Mr, Hc, and nB values decreased with increasing Tb3+ substitution. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University: 2018-209-IRMC, 2017-576-IRMCThis study was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research (project applications 2017-576-IRMC and 2018-209-IRMC ) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (Saudi Arabia)