Investigation of Structural, Dielectric, Magnetic and Impedance Spectroscopy of MgO/CuFe2O4 Nanocomposites

Abstract

This study investigates the properties of (MgO)x/(CuFe2O4)1-x x= 10–50 wt.% nanocomposites (NCPs) prepared by physical mixing of both materials. The crystal structure, phase identification and morphology were analyzed by x-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The investigation revealed the formation of required phases which are in nanometer dimension (22–54 nm) computed by Debye-Sherrer’s formula. Both the real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant (ε/ & ε//), a.c. conductivity (σac), and impedance were measured in the frequency range of 1kHz to 2MHz by LCR meter. The ε/ and ε// revealed a decreasing trend with frequency, while MgO weight fractions in NCPs enhance the permittivity values. The real and imaginary parts of impedance (Z/ & Z//) demonstrate a decreasing trend with frequency which is ascribed to increase in σac. The complex impedance spectroscopy (CIS) analysis shows semicircular arcs at higher frequency, which are due to electrical transport properties of conducting grains. The effect of MgO contents on magnetic properties were analyzed by measuring M-H loops at room temperature through vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Both the saturation magnetization (Ms) and coercivity (Hc) values show a decreasing profile with MgO fractions, which are due to increase in nonmagnetic contents and decrease in surface anisotropy respectively.