Dielectric and complex impedance properties of tetravalent hafnium (HF 4+) integrated cobalt ferrite
Abstract
The work presented in this thesis was carried out to understand the effects of tetravalent hafnium (Hf4+) ion on the crystal structure and phase, surface morphology, electrical, dielectric and complex impedance properties of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4; CFO). Hafnium incorporated cobalt ferrite, CoFe2-xHfxO4, with x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.075, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 were prepared by the standard solid state ceramic synthesis method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterizations were performed to determine the structural properties. Most important aspect of this study is to explore the dielectric and complex impedance properties as a function of variable temperature (T=300-1000 K) and frequency (f=20 Hz -1 MHz). Room temperature and the temperature dependence of dielectric constant, loss factor, complex impedance, and the ac resistivity measurements enabled us to understand the effect of temperature and frequency on the electrical and dielectric properties on CoFe2-xHfxO4 and, thus, to derive structure-property relation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for Hf-incorporated CFO confirm the formation of majority of CFO spinel [with space group Fd3m (227)] phase, in addition to the small amount of HfO2 monoclinic [space group, P1 21/c (14)] phase leading to formation of CFO-Hf composites. The lattice constant values derived from XRD for CFO-Hf were found to increase from 8.374 Å (x = 0.000) to 8.391 Å (x = 0.200). The lattice expansion is significant at the very first step of Hf-incorporation and then slows down with progressive Hf-incorporation. SEM imaging analysis indicates that Hf resides at the grain boundaries for CFO-Hf. The dielectric constant (ϵ') of CFO-Hf is T-independent at T<450 >K, at which point increasing trend prevails. A grain bulk-boundary based two-layer model, where semiconducting-grains separated by insulating-grain boundaries, satisfactorily accounts for ϵ- T (>450 K) variation. Correspondingly, electrical responses in impedance formalism are attributed to the grain and grain-boundary effects, respectively, which also accounts for the observed two dielectric-relaxations. The results demonstrate that the dielectric phenomena in CFO-Hf can be tailored by tuning Hf-concentration.
Subject Area
Electromagnetics|Materials science
Recommended Citation
Sanchez, Luis, "Dielectric and complex impedance properties of tetravalent hafnium (HF 4+) integrated cobalt ferrite" (2013). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1551249.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1551249