Structural, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of Nd-Doped CeO{sub 2} Nanoparticles Codoped with Transition Metal Elements (Cu, Zn, Cr)
In the present work, pure CeO{sub 2}, neodymium-doped CeO{sub 2}, and neodymium and transition metal element (Cu, Zn, Cr)-codoped CeO{sub 2} nanoparticles were synthesized by an auto-combustion method and annealed at 700 {sup ∘}C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that all the samples exhibited a single-phase cubic fluorite structure with the incorporation of respective dopant ions into the CeO{sub 2} lattice. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images displayed the prepared nanoparticles which had an irregular flaky structure with large agglomerations. The Fourier transform Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopy analysis revealed the increased oxygen vacancy defects in CeO{sub 2} host after doping and codoping with neodymium and transition metal elements. Ultraviolet-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) studies revealed the decrease in bandgap values in doped and codoped samples compared to pure CeO{sub 2} sample. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies revealed the presence of functional groups in the prepared samples. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy analysis reported the decreased luminescence intensities of Nd-doped and neodymium and transition metal-codoped CeO{sub 2} nanoparticles. The vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) results depicted that all the samples exhibited room-temperature ferromagnetism.