Investigation on structural, magnetic, dielectric and transport properties of nickel cobalt zinc ferrite–barium zirconium manganese titanium multiferroic composites

Structural, magnetic, dielectric and transport features was studied thoroughly in various xNi0.3Co0.2Zn0.5Fe2O4-(1-x) BaZr0.045Mn0.1Ti0.855O3. Ferromagnetic and ferroelectric phases of the mentioned composition were achieved through conventional solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were used in the structural study, and Fourier transform infrared ray (FTIR) was used for additional study of the structure. XRD results revealed that composites have a biphasic spinel-perovskite structure. The microstructural characteristics of the samples under study were examined using images from field emission scanning electron microscopy. Magnetoelectrically coupled composites exhibit a clear change in lattice, magnetic, and dielectric characteristics with the variation of ferrite concentration. Magnetic studies reveal that increasing ferrite content reduces magnetic loss while improving initial permeability, relative quality factor, and magnetization. The maximum initial permeability about 19 were observed at x=1.00, which also exhibited minimal magnetic loss. M-H hysteresis loop confirmed that all studied specimens retained their usual ferromagnetic properties. The sample with x=1.00 displayed the highest saturation magnetization of 64.42 emu/g. With an increase in ferrite content, the dielectric constant of the studied samples decreases from 23.11 to 5.33 at 1 MHz, except for the x=0.20 composite. The highest dielectric response was obtained about 55.80 at 1 MHz for x = 0.20 composite. AC conductivity investigation showed that the conduction mechanism fitted Jonscher’s power law and was ascribed to tiny polaron hopping. The Nyquist plot was used to evaluate complex impedance, ensuring that grain and grain boundary resistance prevailed. The grain resistance decreases from about 380.87 kΩ to 14.85 kΩ, while that of the grain boundaries decreases from approximately 189.44 kΩ to 105.94 kΩ, except x=1.00 sample. These results confirm the strong potential of the studied samples for applications in advanced electronics and energy sector.