Effect of Firing Temperatures on Phase Formation, Microstructure, Dielectric and Magnetic Properties of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 Ceramics Synthesized by the Solid-State Combustion Technique

Abstract

In this study, the effect of firing temperatures on phase formation, microstructure dielectric and magnetic properties of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 (NZFO) ceramics were investigated. The NZFO powder were synthesized by the solid-state combustion technique using glycine as a fuel to reduce the reaction temperature. All samples were calcined in the range of 900 °C–1100 °C for 2 h and sintered in the range of 1175 °C–1275 °C for 2 h. A pure ferrite phase was found in the powders calcined above 1000 °C and the average particle size of NZFO powders was increased from 0.39 µm to 0.59 µm when the calcination temperature was increased. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results confirmed the formation of pure spinel structure with cubic phase in all the ceramic samples. The average grain size (5.54–2.80 µm) was slightly decreased, and the dielectric constant (239–13) tended to decrease with increasing sintering temperature. As the sintering temperature increased to 1250 °C, it was found that the lattice parameters (8.366–8.387 Å), the density (5.29–5.35 g/cm3), and saturation magnetization (81.51–93.92 emu/g) tended to increase after that decrease.