Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism https://doi.org/10.1007/s10948-022-06382-7 ORIGINAL PAPER The Role of Rare Earth (Y) Ions on the Structural, Magnetic and Mechanical Properties of Co–Mg Nanoferrites N. A. Harqani 1  · N. M. Basfer 1 Received: 17 March 2022 / Accepted: 8 August 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022 Abstract The current paper is an efort to investigate the impact of rare earth yttrium on magnetic and mechanical properties of novel Co–Mg–Y nanoparticles. A series of ferrite nanoparticles, with a constant amount of cobalt and magnesium, substituted with various amounts of Y 3+ as Co 0.7 Mg 0.3 Y x Fe 2-x O 4 (labeled as CMYF nanoferrites) were prepared and studied. The prepared CMYF samples were well investigated for structure and morphology utilizing x-ray difraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The crystallite size of CMYF nanoferrites introduced an abnormal behavior with further Y 3+ substitution, ranging from 33.33 to 66.89 nm. The nanofer- rite Co 0.7 Mg 0.3 Y 0.08 Fe 1.92 O 4 (x = 0.08) has the highest coercivity (1410 G) within all CMYF samples, with increasing ratio 36.10% than the pristine Co–Mg nanoferrite. Also, the nanoferrite Co 0.7 Mg 0.3 Y 0.1 Fe 1.9 O 4 (x = 0.1) has the highest resistance to uniform compression with increasing ratio 8.21% than the pristine nanoferrite. Shear and Young moduli introduced a peculiar trend: decrease regularly for 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.08 and then increase for the nanoferrite with x = 0.1. Poisson’s ratio values confrmed that all CMYF nanoferrites are stable, isotropic, and linear elastic materials. Hosselman and Fulrath’s model was utilized to correct elastic moduli to zero porosity, which confrmed that porosity is a signifcant parameter for CMYF nanoferrite elastic moduli determination. Therefore, we conclude that Co 0.7 Mg 0.3 Y 0.08 Fe 1.92 O 4 nanoferrite can be utilized in storage media applications and Co 0.7 Mg 0.3 Y 0.1 Fe 1.9 O 4 nanoferrite in diverse ferrite standard mechanical applications. Keywords Nanoferrites · Structural properties · Magnetic properties · Mechanical properties 1 Introduction Nanocrystalline ferrites have been generally investigated for both scientifc interest and technological applications as data storage, microelectronic, and microwave devices [1–4]. Particularly, spinel nanoferrites have attracted numer- ous researchers’ interest due to their signifcant magneto- mechanical properties [5–8]. Astonishingly, spinel nanofer- rites are the basis for various technological applications, as in magnetic storage, sensors, transformers, photocatalysts, etc. [9–15]. Actually, these applications depend mainly on the magneto-mechanical features of those nanomaterials which originated by a combination interchange of many factors such as cationic distribution, lattice parameter, and magnetic moment and their spin canting [16]. Daigle et al. [17] reported that magnesium (Mg) ferrite is a talented magneto-mechanical material due to their lower tox- icity rather than the widely used electronic ferrite material, nickel ferrite. On other hand, cobalt (Co) ferrite is a suitable material for diverse aspects from biomedicine to industrial uses [18, 19]. Therefore, in this research, we decided to col- lect the characteristics of both of Co and Mg ferrites in one ferrite system: Co–Mg ferrite nanoparticles. Despite the great advantages of ferrite materials, there are few shortcomings in it when exposed to great electric feld, magnetic feld, or pressure. These shortcomings represent in stress develop- ing, which afect the atom environment and properties of the spinel ferrite. So, investigating the magneto-mechanical properties is necessary to avoid damages throughout their service [20]. Actually, the physical properties of the ferrite nanoparti- cles can be easily tuned by substitution a foreign ion. Rare earth (RE) ions can perfectly tune the physical properties of the pristine nanoferrite sample. Several research groups have the unanimity that RE elements are talented ions for enhancing ferrite physical properties [21–25]. Hence, the * N. M. Basfer nourbasfer20@gmail.com 1 Department of Physics, Um ALQura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia