Study of dielectric and electrical properties in Co-(Fe–Ce-Nd) nanosized spinel ferrites

Abstract

Ce–Nd doped Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles having composition CoFe2-2xCexNdxO4 (where 0.00 ≤x ≤ 0.10) were prepared by co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction study confirms the formation of single-phase spinel ferrite. Temperature dependent dielectric and electrical properties has been studied with in the frequency range of 20Hz to 3 MHz. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss decrease as frequency increased while ac conductivity exhibit increasing trend with increasing frequency. The alternating current (AC) conductivity data were successfully modeled by using universal Jonscher's power law which implies that hopping of charge carriers is the governing mechanism in the conduction. Impedance study using Nyquist plots shows that grain boundary resistance is higher than the grain interior resistance. Diameter of Nyquist plots decreases with increasing temperature indicating the decrease in impedance and increase in conductivity. DC resistivity show decreasing trend with increasing temperature revealing semiconductor nature of synthesized nanoparticles. Current–Voltage measurements exhibit nonlinear hysteresis loop which authenticate the occurrence of resistance switching effect in synthesized composition.