Synthesis and characterization of electrospun NiCoCdNdFeO4 nanofibers

Abstract

We report here the production of novel Ni0.5Co0.5−xCdxNd0.02Fe1.78O4 nanofibers (NFs) (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) via electrospinning method with using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a polymer agent. The investigation of the partial substitution effect of Co by Cd ions in Co0.5Ni0.5Fe1.78Nd0.02O4 NFs on their morphological, structural and magnetic properties was performed. The XRD confirmed the successful formation of Ni0.5Co0.5−xCdxNd0.02Fe1.78O4 (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) NFs with cubic structure. The hyperfine parameters were determined from the analysis of Mössbauer results. The hyperfine magnetic field of both sites was not much affected by the substitution. Mössbauer analysis indicated that the Cd2+ ions strongly occupy A site and the Fe3+ions emigrated from A site to B site, and hence the content of Co2+ions diminished at B site. Room temperature (RT; T = 300K) and 10 K magnetization curves were investigated via vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). All prepared samples displayed ferrimagnetic behavior at both measured temperatures. The saturation magnetization (Ms) enhances from x = 0.00 to 0.05 and thereafter reduces with the further increase in Cd2+ ion contents. All the Cd-substituted samples displayed higher Ms values than that of the non-substituted sample. The improvement in Ms values with Cd substitution is largely ascribed to the surface spins effects and cations distribution on Td and Oh sites. Magnetic moments, remanence (Mr) and coercivity (Hc) were determined and investigated.