Effect of nickel dopingon structural and magnetic properties of a-Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites derived from logas natural sand for environmental applications

In this study, α-Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites derived from Logas District natural sand as a raw material have been prepared by the ball milling method. The products of ball milling were doped with nickel nanoparticles at different doping concentrations (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 wt. %). During the sample preparation, the impact of composition was studied using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectroscopy. The effect of doping concentration on the structural and magnetic properties was studied using X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the formation of α-Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites and a highly crystalline rhombohedral structure. The nickel doping did not change the structure of the nanocomposites; however, the average crystallite size decreases from 42.13 to 34.45 nm with increasing nickel doping concentration from 0 to 4 wt.%, respectively. The crystallite size based on the dominant peak (104) shows a similar trend as the nickel concentration increases. The magnetic properties of the samples show a ferromagnetic nature of the prepared nanocomposites. The saturation magnetization, remanence magnetization, and coercivity increase with increasing nickel concentration. This study demonstrates the simple way of preparing nickel-doped α-Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites for environmental applications.