Electrical, magnetic, and direct and converse magnetoelectric properties of (1−x)Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3−(x)CoFe2O4 (PZT–CFO) magnetoelectric composites

• PZT–CFO composite was prepared by hydrothermal method and ceramic sintering process.
• Effect of CoFe2O4 content on the electrical and magnetic properties is studied.
• CoFe2O4 particles are uniformly distributed in the PZT matrix.
• P–E and M–H hysteresis loops confirm room-temperature multiferroic characteristics.
• Tm shifts to higher values with the increase in the measurement frequency.

In this work, hydrothermal synthesis and ceramic sintering process were applied to fabricate (1−x)Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3−(x)CoFe2O4 (PZT–CFO) (x=0.20, 0.35, and 0.50) magnetoelectric (ME) composites. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that no chemical reaction occurred between individual PZT and CFO phases and confirmed the manifestation of PZT and CFO phases within the ME composite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the microstructure and connectivity scheme in the ME composites. The dielectric constant (ε) and loss tangent (tan δ) were determined as functions of frequency and temperature for all the composites prepared. The polarization–electric field (P–E) and magnetization–magnetic field (M–H) hysteresis loops obtained indicate that both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties coexist in the ME composites prepared. The direct (DME) and converse magnetoelectric effects (CME) were measured only for the PZT–CFO20 (20 mol% CoFe2O4) composite sintered at 1100 °C for 4 h. The maximum values of ME voltage coefficient αMEαME(dE/dH  ) and ME susceptibility coefficient αmeαme (dH/dE) were 226 mV cm−1 Oe−1 at frequency of 75.1 kHz and 1.15×10−8 s/m at frequency of 66.8 kHz, respectively.

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