The influence of lanthanum concentration on microstructural and electrical properties of Mg-Cd-Bi ferrite nanoparticles

Lanthanum (La³⁺) substituted Mg-Cd-Bi ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel auto combustion route consuming high quality nitrates. The impact of lanthanum concentration on microstructural and electrical properties in the ferrite series Mg_0.5Cd_0.5Fe_1.95Bi_0.5-xLa_xO₄ (x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05) was investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Current-voltage (I-V) analyzerfor compositional, structural, morphological and electrical analysis. Upon varying the lanthanum content, it is observed that all the samples retained perovskite BiFeO₃ phase with distorted rhombohederal structure. Furthermore, it is revealed that the sintering process can significantly control the structural defects and crystal imperfections which affect the electric and magnetic nature of ferrites. The conduction process in La³⁺-dopedferrite series is originated by the hopping of electrons between ions of same elementswhich reduced the electrical resistivity and depicts the semiconductor nature of synthesized samples.Thus, it is believed that the optimal doping of lanthanum content in La³⁺-substituted Mg-Cd-Bi ferrites followed by post-annealing can remarkably tune the electrical properties of synthesized ferrite nano particles.