Structural, optical, thermoelectric, and magnetic properties of terbium doping on zinc cobalt nanoparticles and applications

The technology of citrate gel auto-combustion was utilized to create terbium-doped nanoparticles with significant amounts of zinc cobalt ferrites, whose chemical formula is Zn 0.2 Co 0.8 Tb x Fe 2− x O 4 with an X range of 0.000–0.030 (with an X step of 0.005). In order to determine X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transition electron microscopy (TEM), thermoelectric power studies, and magnetic properties at 5 K and 300 K. The XRD and TEM pictures show nanometer ranges and the cubic spinel structure, which is only phased, and verify the typical crystallite size. The lattice parameter and volume decrease with increasing density. It is strongly suggested by the data confirming the cubic spinel ferrites that two metallic bands have formed, as seen by the FTIR. The UV–Vis analysis results in a violet shift and reveals that the estimated direct band gap energy values range from 2.59 to 2.44 eV. The thermoelectric field is applied to all samples during a cooling cycle. The conduction mechanism causes sample electrons to behave like p-type semiconductors as the temperature rises. The magnetic characteristics of the hysteresis loops point to a change from hard to soft magnetic moments. To study the low-temperature magnetic characteristics, they show superparamagnetic behavior above blocking temperature ( T B ). The T B was created at temperatures between 190 and 219 K for all samples.