Structural, morphological, magnetic and spectral studies of Bi³⁺ substituted YFeO₃ Nano-powders: Obtained by sol-gel synthesis

Abstract

Nano powders of Bismuth substituted Yttrium ferrite have been synthasized by standard Sol-Gel method with maintaining the pH level of solution at 9 on the pH scale. The X-ray diffraction spectra concludes that these materials are well crystallized and lie in the desired single orthorhombic phase. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) measurement suggests that each sample possesses a certain degree of homogeneity which follow increasing trend with enhanced doping concentration. EDAX measurement confirms the successful substitution of Bismuth for Yttrium cation site and also varify that the chemical compositions are in appropriate molar ratio which is consistant with the desired stoichiometry. Hysteresis loop recorded at 300 K indicates the anti-ferromagnetic nature of the prepared samples. The high value of coercivity (14 kOe to 24 kOe) predict their use in magnetic storage devices. The FT-IR spectra recorded in the fingerprint region (800 cm⁻¹ to 400 cm⁻¹) are showing various metal oxide bonds observed in the form of absorption bands.