Temperature dependent magnetic and microwave absorption properties of doubly substituted nanosized material

The sol gel method has been adopted to synthesize a series of X-type hexagonal ferrites with concentration Sr_2−x Gd_x Ni₂ Fe_28−yCd_yO₄₆ (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10 and y=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5). The XRD analysis reveals the single phase of the prepared material and the lattice constants a (Å) and c (Å) varies with additives. The crystallite size of the present investigated ferrite is found in the range of 20–30 nm measured from TEM image. The enhancement in the magnetic properties (saturation magnetization, remanance magnetization and coercivity) can be observed with the increase of dopping concentration and the coercivity lies in the range of (484.22–887.47) G. The saturation and remanance magnetization decreases monotonically with the temperature which is the characteristic of the hexagonal ferrites. The Gd–Cd substituted sample possesses low values of complex relative permittivity and permeability than the pure samples. The material exhibits maximum microwave absorption −23 dB at 11.87 GHz and attenuation peak is in good agreement with the reflection loss value. The microwave absorption properties reflect the applications of this material in super high frequency devices (SHF). - Highlights: • A series of X-type hexagonal ferrites were prepared by Sol–gel method. • The XRD analysis showed that the X-type hexagonal structure. • The c/a ratio of these samples falls in the range of X-type hexagonal ferrites. • The magnetic properties improved with the increase of Gd–Cd contents. • The microwave absorption properties enhanced with Gd–Cd substitution