Narrow Results

Iron-doped lead sulfide thin films were deposited on glass substrates using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method (SILAR) at room temperature. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the film shows a well formed crystalline thin film with face-centered cubic structure along the preferential orientation (1 1 1). The lattice constant is determined using Nelson Riley plots. Using X-ray broadening, the crystallite size is determined by Scherrer formula. Morphology of the thin film was studied using a scanning electron microscope. The optical properties of the film were investigated using a UV–vis spectrophotometer. We observed an increase in the optical band gap from 2.45 to 3.03eV after doping iron in the lead sulfide thin film. The cutoff wavelength lies in the visible region, and hence the grown thin films can be used for optoelectronic and sensor applications. The results from the photoluminescence study show the emission at 500–720nm. The vibrating sample magnetometer measurements confirmed that the lead sulfide thin film becomes weakly ferromagnetic material after doping with iron.

Nanocrystalline SnO₂ powder has been successfully synthesized by using tin(II) chloride dihydrate (SnCl${}_2\cdot 2$H₂O), distilled water and liquid ammonia by the simple chemical co-precipitation method at room temperature using different SnCl${}_2\cdot 2$H₂O molar concentration of 0.3M, 0.4M and 0.5M. The structural properties of the prepared SnO₂ and transition metal doped SnO₂ nanoparticles has been studied using X-ray diffraction method and scanning electron microscope. The composition of the powders has been analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The XRD pattern of the SnO₂ nanoparticles indicates the formation of single-phase rutile tetragonal structure. The grain size is found to be in the range of 3–7nm and is found to increase with increasing SnCl₂ molar concentration. The absorption spectra revealed that the bandgap decreased from 3.74eV to 3.59eV with increasing SnCl₂ molar concentration. The photoluminescence spectra of SnO₂ nanoparticles showed a visible broad luminescence band in the region of 385–430nm. The magnetic studies have been carried out using the hysteresis loop obtained from a vibrating sample magnetometer. The SnO₂ samples using 0.3 and 0.4 SnCl₂ molar concentration exhibited ferromagnetic behavior whereas the SnO₂ sample prepared using 0.5M SnCl${}_2\cdot 2$H₂O exhibited paramagnetic nature.

This paper analyzes the effects of additives on the properties of Iron oxide. The Iron oxide was synthesized using the co-precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks of resultant Iron oxide perfectly matched with JCPDS #860550 ($\alpha$ phase of Iron oxide / Hematite). The additives like Cobalt oxide, Nickel metal, Indium oxide and Tin metal with diverse properties procured in readymade forms were mechanically mixed with Iron oxide in 1:99, 3:97, 5:95 and 7:93 weight ratios, respectively. The XRD peaks for additives were prominent for 7:93 (Additive: Base Material) weight % ratio samples. Therefore, for further studies, only these samples were used. In this study, variations in XRD intensity, lattice parameters, unit cell volume, grain size, micro-strains (W-H analysis), dislocation density and stacking fault probability were analyzed. The specific surface area of particles was calculated by scanning electron microscope analysis. The presence of additives was also confirmed by energy dispersive spectra (EDS). The M-H loops (Vibrating Sample Magnetometer analysis) for samples under investigation showed rare vertical shifts. The weak magnetic behavior of bare Hematite (1.0 emu/gm) sample improved to antiferromagnetic behavior due to the addition of Cobalt oxide (7.89 emu/gm) and Nickel metal (2.76 emu/gm). The addition of Indium oxide (0.65 emu/gm) and Tin metal (0.73 emu/gm) samples showed a decreased magnetic saturation.