Synthesis and magnetic properties of vanadium doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

Polycrystalline nanoparticles with nominal composition Ti1−xVxO2 (0⩽x⩽0.16) have been synthesized by a sol–gel technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the samples are pure anatase TiO2 structure and no impurity phase is detected for the doping concentrations x⩽0.1. The lattice parameters a and c of the composites increase monotonously with the increase of V content, which indicates that V ions have been incorporated into the lattice of TiO2. Magnetic investigations indicate that Ti1−xVxO2 nanoparticles possess ferromagnetic ordering at both low temperature (10 K) and room temperature (300 K). Additionally, the temperature dependent susceptibility curves indicate the existence of strongly antiferromagnetic coupling between V magnetic ions.