Enhanced magnetic property and antibacterial biomedical activity of Ce ³⁺ doped CuFe 2 O 4 spinel nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method

In the present study, spinel copper ferrite (CuFe 2 O 4 ) nanoparticles (NPs) doped with different concentrations of rare earth element (REE) Cerium (Ce 3+ ) ions were synthesized by the simple sol-gel combustion technique. REE Ce 3+ ions were successfully doped into the spinel lattice of CuFe 2 O 4 NPs without any distortion. It was analyzed that the influence of Ce 3+ ions on structure, surface morphology, magnetic behavior and antibacterial activities using different instrumental techniques such as powder XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, SAED and VSM, etc. Powder XRD results and SEM images along with EDX techniques confirmed the spinel phase formation of pure and Ce 3+ doped CuFe 2 O 4 NPs with spherical shaped morphology without any other secondary phase impurity. It also was further confirmed by TEM and SAED analysis. The magnetic behavior of the Ce 3+ doped CuFe 2 O 4 NPs was recorded using the VSM technique at room temperature (RT). The magnetic characterizations have been altered by the addition of Ce 3+ ions in the CoFe 2 O 4 lattice. The antibacterial properties of Ce 3+ doped CuFe 2 O 4 NPs was found to be enhanced with increase in Ce 3+ concentrations as it cause a reduction in the grain size.