Dielectric Studies of Ferrimagnetic-Piezoelectric Composites

Abstract

Magneto-electric composites of two distinct phases, ferrimagnetic-piezoelectric system with general compositional formula (x) ferromagnetic + (1-x) piezoelectric were synthesized using a hybrid technique, mechano-chemical method by sintering the mixtures of piezo-electric BaTiO3 (BTO) and ferri-magnetic Mg0.2Cu0.5Zn0.3Fe2O4 (MCZF). Here, ferri-magnetic phase component MCZF (Mg0.2Cu0.5Zn0.3Fe2O4) was prepared using auto-combustion method, whereas piezo-electric BTO was procured commercially from Sigma-Aldrich. Here, the general composition of composites is given by (x) Mg0.2Cu0.5Zn0.3Fe2O4+(1-x) BaTiO3(x=15%, 30% and 45%). Presences of two phases in these magneto-electric composites were probed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. Peaks observed in the XRD spectrum indicated spinel cubic structure for MCZF ferrite and tetragonal perovskite structure for BTO and, both spinel and pervoskite structures for synthesized composites. Micro-structure of the samples has been investigated using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). Frequency dependent dielectric properties of synthesized composites were measured from 100 Hz to 1 MHz at room temperature using a precision HIOKI make LCR HI-TESTER. Dielectric dispersion was observed at lower frequencies for the synthesized composites.