Effect of zinc substitution on the nanocobalt ferrite powders for nanoelectronic devices

•Zinc doped cobalt ferrite nanopowder has been prepared at low temperature.•Characterization by PXRD, SEM, FTIR techniques confirms the nanoregime.•Magnetic and dielectric properties with Zn2+ mol% content were reported.•50 mol% of Zn2+ dopant in cobalt ferrite may be suitable material for nanodevices.

Zinc substituted cobalt ferrite powders {Co(1−x)ZnxFe2O4} (0.0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.5) were prepared by the solution combustion method. The structural, morphological, magnetic and electrical properties of as synthesized samples were studied. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns reveals single phase, cubic spinel structure with space group No. Fd  3¯m (2 2 7). As zinc concentration increases, the lattice constant increases and the crystallite size decreases. The minimum crystallite size of ∼12 nm was observed for x = 0.5 composition. The synthesized ferrite compounds show ferrimagnetic behavior, with coercivity value of 10779 Oe (Hard ferrite) at 20 K and 1298 Oe (soft ferrite) at room temperature (RT). The maximum saturation magnetization recorded for the Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 composition was 99.78 emu g−1 and 63.83 emu g−1 at 20 K and RT respectively. The dielectric parameters such as dielectric constant, loss tangent and AC conductivity were determined as a function of frequency at RT. The magnetic and dielectric properties of the samples illustrates that the materials were quite useful for the fabrication of nanoelectronic devices.

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