Synthesis of non-stoichiometric zinc ferrite for electromagnetic wave absorber applications

Zn doped Fe3O4 nanocrystalline powders are prepared by the Microwave Hydrothermal (M-H) method. The synthesized ferrite powders are characterized using Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM). Nanocrystalline ferrites of ∼10-20 nm size are synthesized at a low temperature of 160⁰C after a treatment time of 60 min. Magnetization studies show the ferrimagnetic nature of the synthesized samples at room temperature. The electromagnetic properties such as complex permittivity and complex permeability spectra are recorded in the frequency range from 1 MHz to 1.8 GHz. The calculated reflection loss indicated that these ferrites show a potential application as multiband electromagnetic wave absorbers.