Structural, magnetic and dielectric properties of Ni(1_x)Zn(x)Fe2O4 (x = 0,0.5 and 1) nanoparticles synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method.

Ni(1-x)Zn(x)Fe2O4 (x = 0, 0.5 and 1) ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction technique and Rietveld refinement were used to investigate the structural characteristics and determination of the particle size which was found to decrease from 4.9 to 4.1 nm as a function of increasing Zn from 0 to 1.0. Vibrating sample magnetometer was used to study magnetic properties of nickel zinc ferrite nanoparticles. Field-dependent magnetization measurements (M-H curve) at 300 K revealed that Zn substitutions on inverse spinel nickel ferrites enhance the magnetic properties. Magnetization as a function of temperature showed the superparamagnetic behavior of Ni(1-x)Zn(x)Fe2O4 (x = 0,0.5 and 1) nanoparticles. Dielectric permittivity and a.c. conductivity were measured as a function of frequency from 100 kHz to 1 MHz at certain temperatures. The observed response in a.c. conductivity as a function of log of frequency of these nickel zinc ferrite systems was believed to be due to the presence of Maxwell-Wagner type interfacial polarization and hopping of electron by means of quantum mechanical tunneling.