Influence of Zinc Substitution on the Structural, Dielectric, and Gas-Sensing Properties of Mg1-xZnxFe2O4 Nanoparticles.

Abstract

In the present work, Mg1-xZnxFe2O4 (MZFO) nanoparticles with x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5 were synthesized via a chemical coprecipitation method. The study aimed to explore the effect of substituting Mg with Zn in MZFO on its structural, dielectric, and gas-sensing properties. The spinel phase formation was confirmed using X-ray diffraction, and the morphology of the prepared nanoparticles was revealed using scanning electron microscopy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the band ranges of 500-600 cm-1 for tetrahedral and 390-450 cm-1 for octahedral lattice sites. The dielectric data showed that Zn substitution in MZFO decreased both the dielectric constant and loss with increasing frequencies and attained a stagnant value at higher frequencies. Furthermore, the gas-sensing characteristics of Zn-substituted spinel ferrites at room temperature for CO2, O2, and N2 were studied. The nanostructured MZFO exhibited high sensitivity in the order of CO2 > O2 ≫ N2 and showed a good response time of (∼1 min) for CO2, demonstrating that MZFO can be a good potential candidate for gas-sensing applications.