CeO₂/NiTiO₃ nanocomposites; synthesis, photoluminescence and magnetic behavior

Pure phase NiTiO₃ was obtained via a modified sol-gel method. Addition of CeO₂ in a modified oxidizing atmosphere in stearic acid at 750 °C led to the growth of several nanoscaled Ce-rich phases. The formation of NiTiO₃ and CeO₂/NiTiO₃ was strongly confirmed based on metal-oxygen and metal-metal absorption bands. The nanometric formation of crystals and narrow distribution of nanoparticles were confirmed by XRD and FE-SEM. The magnetic properties indicated weak ferromagnetic behavior of NiTiO₃ and paramagnetic behavior of CeO₂/NiTiO₃ nanocomposites. The paramagnetic properties were improved gradually into superparamagnetic upon increasing CeO₂ domain to 30 mol%. It was observed that the current density can achieve 1 × 10^-9 A/cm₂ for the sample containing 30 mol% CeO₂ at an electrical field equal to 40 V/cm.