Dielectric properties of Al-substituted Co ferrite nanoparticles

A series of polycrystalline spinel ferrites with composition, CoFe2−x Al x O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), have been synthesized by sol-gel method. The effect of Al-substitution on structural and dielectric properties is reported in this paper. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the nanocrystalline nature in the prepared ferrite samples. The particle size, D, decreases with increase in Al-content. The lattice parameter, a and X-ray density, d x , decreased with increase in Al-content. The dielectric properties for all the samples have been studied as a function of frequency in the range 100 Hz–10 MHz. Dielectric properties such as dielectric constant, ɛ′, dielectric loss, ɛ″ and dielectric loss tangent, tan δ, have been studied for nanocrystalline ferrite samples as a function of frequency. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss obtained for the nanocrystalline ferrites proposed by this technique possess lower value than that of the ferrites prepared by other methods for the same composition. The low dielectric behaviour makes ferrite materials useful in high frequency applications.