INVESTIGATING MAGNETIC, DIELECTRIC, OPTIC AND MORPHOLOGIC PROPERTIES OF NANO-NICKEL OXIDE-DOPED NdFeO3

In this investigation, α-Fe2O3 was prepared via co-precipitation and nano-NiO and NdFeO3 were synthesized using the sol–gel method. For NdFe0.5Ni0.5O3 synthesis, Nd2O3, α-Fe2O3, and nano-NiO compounds were mixed via the solid state method. The effect of each component and that of nano-NiO on the NdFe0.5Ni0.5O3 crystal properties was characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), impedance and bandgap analyses. The orthorhombic perovskite structure was confirmed by the XRD data. With the doping of nano-NiO, the unit cell volume was found to decrease. The UV–Vis spectroscopy showed that the nano-NiO-doped optical bandgap (Eg) had increased. The VSM analysis demonstrated that by doping nano-NiO to weak ferromagnetic NdFeO3, the resulting NdFe0.5Ni0.5O3 was rendered superparamagnetic. The real and imaginary parts of dielectric permittivity (𠜀′ and 𠜀″) and the loss tangent (tanδ) characteristic of the compounds were measured at AC-signaled frequencies of 100 Hz–10 MHz and a voltage range of 0–20 V DC. The increase in active charge transmission with the doping of nano-NiO reduced the 𠜀′ values. In addition, the large differences between the 𠜀′ values were thought to be caused by the breakdown voltage (Eb) effect of the compounds. The 𠜀″ and tanδ changes revealed the dipole formation of the compounds at different voltages, their relaxation regions and their polarization mechanism type. The dielectric loss behavior of the compounds demonstrated their good dielectric material properties. This study investigated the effect of method difference and doped material particle size on magnetic and dielectric properties.