Microstructure and magnetic properties in Sn1−xFexO2 (x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.10) nanoparticles synthesized by hydrothermal method

Abstract Sn 1− x Fe x O 2 ( x  = 0.00, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10) nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that all samples are pure rutile-type tetragonal phase and the grain size decreases with the increase of Fe content. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images show that the samples are spherical in shape and most grains are uniform in size with diameters of 5–6 nm. Magnetic measurements by using magnetic property measurement system (MPMS) show that the Fe-doped SnO 2 nanoparticles exhibit paramagnetic behavior and the calculated values of the effective Bohr magnetron number are 4.94 μ B (LT) and 3.92 μ B (HT) for x  = 0.01, 5.04 μ B for x  = 0.05, and 4.81 μ B for x  = 0.1, respectively. The decrease of magnetic moment per iron atom with the increase of iron concentration could be attributed to the antiferromagnetically coupled spins.