Structural, dielectric and magnetic properties of SnO2-CuFe2O4 nanocomposites

The nanocomposites of (SnO2)x(CuFe2O4)(1−x) (where x=0-100 wt%) have been successfully synthesized via two steps chemical method. XRD pattern has revealed the formation of inverse spinal phases with tetragonal crystal structure without any impurity phases for CuFe2O4 sample. The thermodynamic solubility limit of SnO2 in CuFe2O4 matrix has been found to be 30 wt% and above this percentage crystal phases related to SnO2 started to appear. The average particle size and shape of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles have been strongly influenced by addition of SnO2 as depicted by TEM results. FTIR results have confirmed the existence of cation vibration bands at tetrahedral and octahedral sites along with Sn-O vibration band at higher concentrations, which also validates the formation of nanocomposites. Furthermore, the dielectric constant, tangent loss and conductivity of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles have been found to increase up to 30 wt% addition of SnO2 and then decreases with further increase which is attributed to variations in resistivity and space charge carriers. Magnetic measurements have shown that saturation magnetization decreases from 35.68 emu/gm to 10.26 emu/gm with the addition of SnO2 content.