Hydrothermally Synthesized Magnesium doped Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles: An extensive study on structural, optical, magnetic, and dielectric properties

Abstract

Magnesium-doped Zinc ferrite (MgxZn1-xFe2O4) nanoparticles with an average size of 10.1-5.89 nm were prepared by low-temperature hydrothermal method using NaBH4 as the reducing agent. The structural, microstructural, optical, magnetic, and dielectric properties of these nanoparticles were extensively studied. Rietveld refinement profile confirmed the formation of mixed spinel structures with cubic lattices (space group Fd3m). A complete microstructural study revealed the polycrystallinity nature of the powder along with the formation of nano-sized particles. The Raman spectral analysis showed broadening, merging, and shifting of Raman peaks with an increase in dopant concentration. The X-ray photoelectron studies exhibited the presence of Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions corroborating the results obtained from Rietveld analysis. The optical studies elucidate a reasonably high absorbance in the UV region with a bandgap of 2.05-1.92 eV, which showed a minimum value of 1.92 eV for 50% of Mg doping. These nano-sized ferrite particles were observed to be superparamagnetic due to their small size and gradually developed to a ferromagnetic state, but with a low value of magnetization, coercivity, and remanent magnetization. These nano ferrites exhibiting high dielectric constant, high impedance, and significantly low loss may have potential applications in communication devices.