Effect of non-magnetic ions substitution on the structure and magnetic properties of Y3−xSrxFe5−xZrxO12 nanoparticles

In this work, Y3−xSrxZrxFe5O12 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.7) were synthesized by citrate precursor method at 1050 °C. The structural and magnetic properties of Y3−xSrxFe5−xZrxO12 were studied by using the X-ray diffraction technique, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. XRD analysis using X'Pert package show a pure garnet phase with cubic structure (space group Ia-3d) and the impurity phase SrZrO3 is observed when the range of x value is exceeded from 0.6. Rietveld refinement using Fullprof program shows the lattice volume expansion with increasing the degree of Sr/Zr substitution. The crystallite sizes remain constant in the range of x = 0.0 − 0.5 and then increase. The different morphology observed in SEM micrographs of the samples can be related to different values of the microstrain in the samples. The hysteresis loops of the samples reveal a superparamagnetic behaviour. Also, the drop in coercivity with increasing of the substitution is mainly originated from a reduction in the magneto-elastic anisotropy energy. The values of the saturation magnetization (MS) indicate a non-monotonically variant with increasing the Sr/Zr substitution and reach a maximum 26.14 emu/g for the sample x = 0.1 and a minimum 17.64 emu/g for x = 0.0 and x = 0.2. The variation of MS, in these samples results from a superposition of three factors; reduction of Fe3+ in a-site, change in angle FeT-O-FeO, and magnetic core size.