Study of structural, optical and electrical properties of La3+ doped Mg0.25 Ni0.15 Cu0.25 Co0.35 Fe2-x Lax O4 spinel ferrites

Lanthanum substituted Mg–Ni–Cu–Co ferrite nanoparticles prepared through the Sol-Gel method were studied using different methods such as XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS, SEM, Raman, LCR, EDX and IV to evaluate the structural, optical and electrical properties. The single-phase cubic spinel structure of the prepared samples was confirmed from X-ray diffraction analysis. The FT-IR spectra indicated two absorption bands, ν1 and ν2 that represent the complex Fe3+–O2− at A-site (tetrahedral) and B-site (octahedral) vibration. The optical band gap decreased from 2.48eV to 1.53eV observed by UV–Vis, and matched with the electrical resistivity measurements. Variation in the lattice parameters from XRD, the absorption band (octahedral) from FTIR, the optical energy band gap from the UV–vis data and the DC resistivity demonstrated change in structural, optical and electric properties of Mg–Ni–Cu–Co ferrites nanoparticles due to the addition of the rare earth element La3+. Both the dielectric losses and dielectric constant of the prepared samples decreased due to the La3+ ions doping, and A.C conductivity increased with increasing the value of frequency from 8 Hz to 8 M Hz. The variation in Raman peaks reveals that Raman shift varied due to the La3+ addition. EDX data confirmed the stoichiometric calculations of La3+ions substituted into Mg–Ni–Cu–Co ferrite nanoparticles.