Structural, surface morphological and magnetic properties of Gd-doped BiFeO3 nanomaterials synthesised by EA chelated solution combustion method

The Gd-doped BiFeO3 nanocrystalline multiferroic at 5 and 9% have been synthesised by solution combustion method using ethanolamine as a fuel. The preliminary structural investigations of the as synthesised samples were carried out using X-Ray diffraction and is found to be crystalline with single phase rhombohedral (R3C) structure with an average particle size of 34 nm. The surface morphology and the elemental analyses were carried out using FESEM and EDX, respectively, which reveals the fluffy agglomerated particles and confirms the presence of the desired elements. The TEM was employed to analyse the particle size which confirms the higher crystallinity of as prepared BiFeO3 and Gd-doped BiFeO3. Field dependence of magnetization was measured using vibrating sample magnetometer and the obtained results suggest that the doping of hetero-valent Gd3+ ions in BiFeO3 nanoparticles enrich the ferromagnetic behaviour. An enhancement in magnetization by increasing Gd doping is observed which also increases the saturation magnetization (MS) by 2.7 emu/g and 2.9 emu/g for the doping concentrations 0.5 and 0.9, respectively. Dopant concentration, phase purity and particle size achieved by the combustion method are considered as the possible causes for improvement of qualities aforementioned. The significant magnetic moments by Gd doping indicates that these materials can be adopted for the potential applications in magnetic sensors.