Evaluation of structural, morphological and magnetic properties of CuZnNi (CuxZn0.5−xNi0.5Fe2O4) nanocrystalline ferrites for core, switching and MLCI’s applications

Abstract

The influence of Cu substitution on the structural and morphological characteristics of Ni–Zn nanocrystalline ferrites have been discussed in this work. The detailed and systematic magnetic characterizations were also done for Cu substituted Ni–Zn nanoferrites. The nanocrystalline ferrites of Cu substituted CuxZn0.5−xNi0.5Fe2O4 ferrites (x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were synthesized using sol gel self-combustion hybrid method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used to investigate the properties of Cu substituted nanocrystalline ferrites. Single phase structure of Cu substituted in Ni–Zn nanocrystalline ferrites were investigated for all the samples. Crystallite size, lattice constant and volume of the cell were found to increase by increasing Cu contents in spinel structure. The better morphology with well-organized nanocrystals of Cu–Zn–Ni ferrites at x=0 and 0.5 were observed from both FESEM and TEM analysis. The average grain size was 35–46nm for all prepared nanocrystalline samples. Magnetic properties such as coercivity, saturation, remanence, magnetic squareness, magneto crystalline anisotropy constant (K) and Bohr magneton were measured from the recorded M–H loops. The magnetic saturation and remanence were increased by the incorporation of Cu contents. However, coercivity follow the Stoner-Wolforth model except for x=0.3 which may be due to the site occupancy and replacement of Cu contents from octahedral site. The squareness ratio confirmed the super paramgnetic behaviour of the Cu substituted in Ni–Zn nanocrystalline ferrites. Furthermore, Cu substituted Ni–Zn nanocrystalline ferrites may be suitable for many industrial and domestic applications such as components of transformers, core, switching, and MLCI’s due to variety of the soft magnetic characteristics.