Effect of Cu substitution on structural and electric transport properties of Ni-Cd nanoferrites

Nanocrystalline samples of Ni0.7-xCuxCd0.3Fe2O4 (x = 0.0-0.5, with step of 0.1) have been synthesized via autocombusted sol-gel method. In this study, we present the structural and electric properties of Cu substituted Ni-Cd ferrite nanoparticles at room temperature with varying frequencies from 20 Hz to 15 MHz. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of samples confirm the single-phase cubic spinel structure without impurity. The crystallite size of samples is found in the nano-scale range (17-27 nm) and the lattice parameter is found to increase linearly with Cu content. The surface morphology of samples is studied through a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and the presence of elements in the samples are confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques. The materials show dielectric dispersion up to 10 kHz frequencies and their loss tangent values remain very low at MHz frequencies. The impedance and modulus spectroscopy confirm the existence of non-Debye relaxation phenomena of the materials and resolve the contribution of grain and grain boundary. The ac conductivity shows normal behavior with frequency, which is explained on the basis of hopping mechanism.