Magnetic nanosized rare earth iron garnets R3Fe5O12: Sol-gel fabrication, characterization and reinspection

The magnetic nanosized rare earth iron garnets (R3Fe5O12, where R=Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) were prepared by an aqueous sol-gel method. Herein we present, that all these garnets can be obtained by this effective synthesis method simply by changing the temperature of the final annealing. It was also demonstrated, that a different annealing temperature leads to a different particle size distribution of the final product. The SEM analysis results revealed that the smallest particles were formed in the range of 75-130 nm. The phase purity and structure of the rare earth iron garnets were estimated using XRD analysis and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Magnetic properties were determined by magnetization measurements. The relation between the particle size, composition and magnetic properties of the sol-gel derived garnets were also discussed in this study.