Abstract

In this work a set of x mol (x = 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, 0.09) Yb3+ doped ZnFe2O4 nano-particles (ZnFe2−xYbxO4), were grown on a 5 wt graphene (GR) through a simple sol–gel method, using Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, FeCl3·6H2O, Yb(NO3)3·6H2O and graphene (GR). The structure, surface morphology and chemical composition of the resulting composites (ZnFe2−xYbxO4–GR) were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL) and vibrating sample magnetometry. The XRD patterns of the nano-composites and nano-particles were in good agreement with a cubic structure for the ZnFe2O4 spinel. The particle sizes for all compositions were found to be in the range of ∼65 − 80 nm. The saturation magnetization (MS), determined by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), linearly increased with the concentration of Yb3+. Saturation magnetization (MS) in the ZnFe2−xYbxO4–5 wt GR nano-composites was larger than that of impure 0.01 mol Yb/ZnFe2O4 nano-particles. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.