Optical and magnetic properties of Mg2+ doped CeO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanocrystalline MgxCe1-xO2 (x = 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05) particles with near uniform size were synthesized by microwave refluxing method. The effects of Mg doping on the optical and magnetic properties of CeO2 are systematically studied. Particle size of all samples were demonstrated by XRD, HRTEM and Raman spectroscopy analyses. Mg doping effect on defect formation was investigated by Raman, UV-Vis and PL spectroscopy studies. Our results show that the increase of oxygen vacancies or defects was induced by Mg doping but not by particle size variation. In addition, a decrease of saturation magnetization was observed with increased Mg content. This can be due to the formation of Mg dopant complexes around oxygen vacancies which leads to formation of F2+ or F0 centers and thereby destroying the long range ferromagnetic ordering. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.