Synthesis of coral-like structures of Pr-Yb co-doped YIG: Structural,optical, magnetic and antimicrobial properties

Coral-like structures of the Y_(3-x)Pr_(x)Fe_(5-y)Yb_(y)O_(12),(0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.04, 0.00 ≤ y ≤ 0.02) compound were synthesized using the sol-gel method. Structural investigation certified the YIG cubic crystal structure formation, without any secondary phase. It is shown that, the relatively large ionic radius of the dopant cations results in an expansion of the lattice parameter, variations in the Iona-O-Iondangle, Iona-O,Iond-O and Ionc-O bond distances and decrease in the average crystallite size. Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) and Raman measurements are essential to testify the single-phase formation of YIG crystal structure and are observed changes in the stretching and vibrational modes, respectively. The morphological study, energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) spectra and textural properties show corallike structures, peaks associated with Pr^(3+) and Yb^(3+) atoms and the effect of dopants on surface area,diameter, and pore volume, respectively. The optical analysis from diffuse reflectance spectra witnessed an increase in the optical gap band, a decrease in Urbach energy and blue shift in the charge transfer,correlated with the expansion of the unit cell due to the dopant's insertion in the YIG structure. A typical ferrimagnetic behavior is exhibited by the Y_(3-x)Pr_(x)Fe_(5-y)Yb_(y)O_(12)compound. The saturation magnetization(M_(s)), cubic anisotropy constant(K_(1)) and coercive field(H_(c)) increase with the Pr^(3+)cations content, as consequence of their magnetic nature and distribution around of Fe^(3+)ions due to the coexistence with the Yb^(3+). Finally, for the first time, antibacterial tests by mean of the direct contact method were performed for YIG co-doped with Pr^(3+)and Yb^(3+)and it is shown that, relatively high dosages of Pr^(3+) cations favored the activity against S. aureus, therefore, a new biological property for YIG doped with rare earths is presented.