Structural and magnetic properties of holmium substituted cobalt ferrites synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method

► CoHoxFe2−xO4 ferrites (x=0.00, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 1.0) were prepared by the simple and economic co-precipitation technique. ► X-ray diffraction reveals that the samples are biphasic except for the undoped sample. ► Decrease in saturation magnetization is attributed to the weakening of the exchange interactions. ► Coercivity increases with increase of the Ho3+ concentration. ► Increase in coercivity suggests that the materials can be used for applications in perpendicular recording media.