Electric and dielectric properties of nanostructured stoichiometric and excess-iron Ni–Zn ferrites

Abstract

In this paper, we report a study of the effect of excess iron on structural, microstructural, electric and dielectric properties of the nanostructured Ni–Zn ferrites Ni1−xZnxFe2+zO4−δ of different compositions with x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1 and z = 0, 0.1. The structural and microstructural properties are estimated from x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM) data. The average grain size, evaluated from AFM topographical analysis, is found to be below 70 nm. The samples exhibit low values of dielectric constant and dielectric loss and a high resistivity. Contrary to earlier conclusions regarding microstructured Ni–Zn ferrites, in nanostructured Ni–Zn ferrites sintered at relatively low temperature and duration, the excess of iron in the composition increases the electrical resistivity and reduces the dielectric constant and loss tangent.