The investigation of structural and magnetic properties of Er2-xCoxO3 nano-oxides

Abstract

The sol-gel technique was used to synthesize Er2-xCoxO3 (0.0 <= x <= 0.30) mixed oxides to analyze structural and magnetic properties. The Rietveld analyses show that Er2-xCoxO3 nanoparticles up to x = 0.1 have single phase, for x >= 0.2 Co3O4 phase appears. Preferential cationic distribution between the non-equivalent sites 8b and 24d is found for all samples. A systematic variation is found in the average maximum strain with composition x. The magnetic analysis showed that super-paramagnetism is the reason of S-shaped hysteresis loops and also non-zero magnetic moments. Both Mr and Ms increased with increasing concentration of Co+2.