Structural, magnetic, and dielectric behaviour of Ce3+ doped Ni-Zn ferrite/TiO2 magneto-dielectric nanocomposites
摘要
To meet the growing demand for multifunctional materials in advanced microelectronic and spintronic applications, we have developed a magneto-dielectric (MD) nanocomposite system comprising (Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe1.97Ce0.03O4)0.5(TiO2)0.5 (NZFCO@TO). The composite was synthesized using the sol-gel method by integrating Ce3+-doped Ni-Zn ferrite as the magnetic component with TiO2 as the dielectric matrix. Structural analysis via Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the formation of the desired phases with well-defined microstructural parameters. Transmission electron microscopy revealed uniformly distributed spherical grains with an average particle size of ~ 13.2 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy provided insight into the valence states of the constituent ions. Magnetic measurements demonstrated ferrimagnetic ordering along with superparamagnetic relaxation behavior in both NZFCO and NZFCO@TO, with a high value (20.25 emu/gm) of maximum magnetization at room temperature in NZFCO@TO. Notably, the NZFCO@TO composite exhibited a significantly enhanced dielectric constant (ε′ ≈ 1874.14) and reduced leakage loss (0.07 − 0.04) compared to the undoped system. Furthermore, a magneto-dielectric coupling of ~ 3% was observed, underscoring the potential of this nanocomposite for applications in magnetic field sensors, spintronic components, and next-generation electronic devices.