Gamma irradiation induced effect on structural, optical and elastic properties of nickel-cobalt ferrite

In present study, the structural, optical and elastic properties of NiFe₂O₄, CoFe₂O₄ and Ni_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanoparticles were investigated before and after gamma irradiation with total dose of 1 kGy and 5 kGy. The sol-gel auto combustion method was used to synthesize ferrite nanoparticles. The XRD pattern of all the samples indicated the formation of single phase cubic spinel structure. Different structural parameters were calculated using XRD data and the effect of dose of gamma irradiation on these parameters were also studied. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was used to find the optical band gap values. The values of energy band gap showed that all samples were semiconductor in nature. The elastic parameters were evaluated using the method based on infrared spectroscopy and it was observed that these parameters are affected due to the change in crystallite size and cation distribution. The elastic moduli were observed to be in increasing trend with gamma irradiation which indicates that interatomic bonding amid various atoms in crystal is getting strengthened continuously due to redistribution of cations