Research articlesInvestigations on multiferroic properties of BaTi0.9Zr0.1O3 substituted with Li0.5Fe2.5O4

•We have studied the effect of lithium ferrite on the structural, dielectric and magnetic properties of BTZr material.•The dielectric property of the BTZr material has improved upon doping with lithium ferrite.•The impedance value reveals that all the composites exhibit maximum at low frequencies at all temperatures.•The magnetization curves depict that all the composites exhibit both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic nature.•The ME voltage coefficient values of all the composites exhibits sharp decreases up to certain magnetic field.

Multiferroic composites (1 − x) BaTi0.9Zr0.1O3 + (x) Li0.5Fe2.5O4 (x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) were synthesized using conventional solid state reaction method. The structural, morphological, functional groups, dielectric and magnetic properties of undoped and doped composites were studied by XRD, FESEM, FTIR, Impedance analyzer and VSM respectively. The magneto-electric voltage coefficient was measured using dynamic lock in technique. The XRD analysis confirmed the formation of tetragonal structure. The percentage of phases in the composites and ratio of c/a values are tabulated. The SEM images confirm the dispersion of Li0.5Fe2.5O4 (LF) in BaTi0.9Zr0.1O3 (BTZr). The formation of strong absorption bands in FTIR confirms the perovskite structure in unsubstituted BTZr. The dielectric constant increases with increase of Li0.5Fe2.5O4 content. We have determined the transition temperature from the Magnetization - Temperature curves which vary between 331 K and 506 K. Electromagnetic coupling gives an interface between ferroelectric and magnetic phases due to strain observed by using magneto-electric properties.