Structural analysis of Sm3+ doped nanocrystalline Mg–Cd ferrites prepared by oxalate co-precipitation method

The structural properties of polycrystalline Sm3+ doped Mg1 − xCdx Fe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) have been investigated by oxalate co-precipitation method from high purity sulphates. The samples were sintered at 1050 °C for a duration of 5 h. The X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the formation of a cubic spinel structure. The different parameters like lattice constant, X-ray density, physical density, porosity, crystallite size, site radii and bond length on tetrahedral and octahedral sites have been calculated. The lattice constant increases with an increase in Cd2+ content and shows non linear behavior. The crystallite size was calculated using Scherrer formula and varies from 28.69 to 32.05 nm. Physical densities were obtained by Archimedes principle. The surface morphology studied by scanning electron microscope shows that the grain size of the samples increases with an increase in Cd2+ content. The IR spectra show two strong absorption bands around 5.87 × 104 m− 1 and 4.27 × 104 m− 1 on the tetrahedral and octahedral sites respectively. IR spectra also show that Sm3+ occupies the octahedral B-site.