Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles

• Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method.
• The structural, morphological and optical properties were investigated.
• The fluorescence spectra of Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles were analyzed.
• The magnetic measurements revealed that the Ni doped SnO2 powder samples presented ferromagnetic properties.

Nickel doped tin dioxide nanoparticles have been obtained by co-precipitation procedure. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX), UV–VIS absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and room temperature magnetization measurements were performed to study the crystal structure, morphology, elemental analysis, photoluminescence and magnetic properties of Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles. TEM results depict the formation of tetragonal shaped and small sized nanoparticles of the diameter of about 10–40 nm. The emission spectra of the SnO2 and Ni doped SnO2 nanoparticles present three main regions, a broad emission band located between 320 and 395 nm due to the free exciton recombination; four emission bands at about 412, 438, 450 and 475 nm, respectively, and the green emission bands of low intensity at 520 and 533 nm, appearing due to the and impurities and structural defect states. The magnetic measurements revealed that the Ni doped SnO2 powder samples presented ferromagnetic properties. The estimated values of the saturation magnetization (Ms) and the coercive field (Hc) are found to be 5·10−4 emu/g and between 83 ÷ 96 sOe (depending on the amount of Ni in the sample), respectively.