Synthesis of prussian blue analog (Co/TCNi/HCCr) nanoparticles using a facile co-precipitation approach and evaluation of their dielectric characteristics for electronic applications

Abstract

The Prussian blue analog Co0.4/(TCNi)0.2/(HCCr)0.6 (PBA) nanoparticles were synthesized via a chemical co-precipitation approach. The structural characteristics of the nanocomposite (NCp) were investigated using the XRD technique, which revealed that the synthetic PBA has a tiny crystallite size and poor crystallinity. The XRD analysis suggests that the fabricated NCp has a face-centered cubic structure with space group Fm-3 m. For deep microstructure analysis, SEM, EDX, and AFM were employed to describe the topological nature and surface architecture. It is observed that the PBA nanocomposite has a small crystallite size of ~13.66 ± 0.32 nm. The particles’ surface displays a high degree of homogeneity, while the grain boundaries are clearly discernible, presenting a spherical morphology with an average diameter of 22 ± 2.1 nm. The porosity was ascertained from an AFM image of approximately 140. Furthermore, the value of the average roughness (Rs) is 6.86 nm. The AC conductivity of PBA in disc form was calculated at various temperatures and frequencies. The results indicate that the dielectric constant (ɛ′) of PBA nanoparticles exhibits a rise from 163 to 3464 throughout the frequency range of 10–100 kHz at ambient temperature and from 27 to 6000 at 293 K. This finding provides confirmation that the dielectric characteristics of PBA nanoparticles are enhanced during the process of annealing. The values of the exponent factor (s) range from 0 to 1; this behavior is connected to the correlated barrier hopping model (CBHM) for AC conductivity. The value of WM was ascertained to be 1.69 eV. Furthermore, the values of activation energy were calculated, and these values decreased from 0.20 to 0.17 eV with annealing. The change in loss tangent (tanδ) as a function of angular frequency at various temperatures is also shown. The investigation of the dielectric characteristics was measured over a wide range of frequencies and temperatures to get valuable data about the dissipation properties of the prospective electronic applications.