The Impact of pH on Structural and Electrical Properties of Er-Substituted ZnFe2O4 Nanoparticles Synthesized via Wet Chemical Route

In this study, erbium-substituted Zn nanoferrites were synthesized by a simple coprecipitation method. The effect of pH on various physical parameters of erbium-substituted Zn nanoferrites was studied. The synthesized ferrite nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, FTIR, and SEM techniques and dielectric measurements. The gravimetric analysis showed the annealing temperature of these ferrites up to 700 °C. The result of XRD revealed the crystal structures of zinc nanoferrites. The FTIR spectra showed the weaker absorption peak due to Er–O stretching vibrations in zinc nanoferrites at pH 11. The SEM analysis showed that synthesized erbium-substituted Zn nanoferrites have a spherical shape with a size range from 42 to 46 nm. Dielectric properties exposed the typical semiconductor behavior of the erbium-substituted Zn nanoferrites. The electric constant at low pH was due to Fe+2 dielectric losses that dominated the sum of intrinsic and extrinsic loss. Increased in dielectric loss is associated with random crystallite orientation and impurities. The ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with a decrease in dielectric loss revealed the crystallite orientation at pH 8 and 11. Tangent loss revealed the conductivity at higher pH 11 with a decrease in tangent loss.