Influence of Ni substitution on structural, morphological, dielectric, magnetic and optical properties of Cu–Zn ferrite by double sintering sol–gel technique

Abstract

Polycrystalline NiCuZn ferrite (NixCu[Formula: see text]Zn[Formula: see text]Fe2O4; [Formula: see text], 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were prepared through sol–gel auto combustion method applying double sintering technique. Structural, morphological, elemental analyses (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Direct Current (DC) electrical resistivity, dielectric, magnetic and optical properties of prepared samples were analyzed. XRD profiles reveal the formation of simple cubic spinel structure without any traceable impurity. The average crystallite size lies within the range of 22–29[Formula: see text]nm. Lattice parameter decreases with increasing Ni concentration. Room temperature DC resistivity was recorded from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm. Both dielectric constant ([Formula: see text]) and loss factor (tan[Formula: see text]) were decreased with increase of frequency while AC conductivity increases. FTIR absorption peak occurred at three different frequency ranges at 570–577[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text], 1635–1662[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] and 3439–3448[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text]. Magnetic properties were investigated by using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Decreasing trends were observed for saturation magnetization ([Formula: see text]), magnetic coercivity ([Formula: see text]) and remanant magnetization ([Formula: see text]) with the increase of Ni content. Optical band gap ([Formula: see text]2.70–2.79[Formula: see text]eV) were calculated from diffuse reflectance data by using Kubelka–Munk function.