Synergistic Influence of Ni substitution on Structural, Magnetic and Photocatalysis Properties of Y_0.85La_0.15FeO₃ Nanomaterials

Y 0.85 La 0.15 Fe 1− x Ni x O 3 (where 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) nanomaterials were fabricated via sol-gel method. The structural characterization and estimation of crystallite size of synthesized nanopowders were performed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. However optical band gap and magnetic behavior of these nanopowders were estimated using UV–vis absorption and Vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM). An orthorhombic structure with pure phase for the synthesized samples (for x = 0, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) was observed through XRD analysis. The calculated tolerance factor was increased from 0.8132 to 0.8411 with an increase of Ni 2+ concentration from 0 to 15 mol % in Y 0.85 La 0.15 Fe 1- x Ni x O 3 . Due to electronic transitions of valence band (2p level of oxygen) to conduction band (3 d level of iron), the p-d transition was observed in range of 500 to 600 nm using the UV–vis absorption spectrum. Due to decrease of crystallite size from 125 nm to 108 nm, an increased optical band gap from 1.98 eV to 2.06 eV was noticed in the synthesized samples. The enhanced saturation magnetization (Ms) value was observed for Y 0.85 La 0.15 Fe 0.85 Ni 0.15 O 3 nanomaterials when compared to that of other samples in this study. The Ni ion doped at Fe site leads to the variation of oxidation state in Fe atom as a consequence increase of super exchange interaction Fe 3+ -O 2— Fe 2+ , Y 3+ /La 3+ -O 2− -Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ /Ni 2+ -O 2− -Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ , Y 3+ /La 3+ -O 2− - Ni 2+ compared to that super exchange interaction of un-doped YFeO 3 sample. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was employed to determine the oxidation state of each atom in the sample. Rate constant k obtained for x = 0 and x = 0.15 were found to be 0.0083 min −1 and 0.0132 min −1 respectively. In summary, the obtained result indicates that Ni substitution at Fe site is greatly influenced on structural and physical properties of Y 0.85 La 0.15 FeO 3 nanomaterials.