New LiNi0.5PrxFe2−xO4 nanocrystallites: Synthesis via low cost route for fabrication of smart advanced technological devices

Abstract Praseodymium substituted nano-crystalline Li-Ni spinel ferrites with different Pr3+ contents were synthesized by micro-emulsion method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometery (VSM) techniques were employed to study the impact of substitution of the Pr3+ on the structure, surface morphology and magnetic parameters. XRD confirmed the formation of the single phase spinel ferrites of all compositions of LiNi0.5PrxFe2−xO4 nanocrystallites. The crystallite size determined from XRD data by Scherrer formula was calculated in range from 40 nm to 70 nm. However the nanoparticles size estimated by SEM was found 35–115 nm. The room temperature VSM measurements were carried out in the applied field range from “−10,000 Oe” to “10000” Oe. Saturation magnetization (MS) (41 emu/g) and coercivity (HC) values (156.9 Oe) of LiNi0.5Fe2O4 were improved by the addition of rare earth Pr3+ cations. The value of Hc is low, which is a strong indication of soft ferrites. The synthesized LiNi0.5PrxFe2−xO4 ferrites may be utilized for low core losses on transformers.