X-ray,electrical conductivity,magnetic and infrared studies of the system Co2−x Ge1−x Fe2x O4

X-ray, electrical conductivity, magnetic hysteresis and IR studies for the system Co_2−x Ge_1−x Fe_2x O₄ were carried out. All the compounds, 0⩽x⩽1, showed cubic symmetry. X-ray intensity calculations, magnetic hysteresis measurements and IR studies indicated the presence of Ge⁴⁺ at tetrahedral, Co²⁺ at octahedral and Fe³⁺ at both the sites. The activation energy and threshold frequency decreased with increasing value ofx. The compounds withx⩽0.5 arep-type and those withx⩾0.75 aren-type semiconductors. Magnetic hysteresis indicated that all the compounds are ferrimagnetic except forx=0 which is antiferromagnetic. The shapes of χ/χ _i vsT plots, highH _c values andJ _R/J_s ratios showed that all the compounds exceptx=0 exhibit single-domain behaviour. Curie temperature,T _c increased with increasing Fe³⁺ ions. The probable ionic configuration for the system is suggested as Ge _1−x ⁴⁺ Fe _x ³⁺ [co _2−x ²⁺ Fe _x ³⁺ ]O ₄ ²⁻ .     

Dielectric relaxation and ac conductivity of sodium tungsten phosphate glasses

Studies of dielectric relaxation and ac conductivity have been made on three samples of sodium tungsten phosphate glasses over a temperature range of 77–420 K. Complex relative permitivity data have been analyzed using dielectric modulus approach. Conductivity relaxation frequency increases with the increase of temperature. Activation energy for conductivity relaxation has also been evaluated. Measured ac conductivity (σ_m(ω)) has been found to be higher than σ_dc at low temperatures whereas at high temperature σ_m(ω) becomes equal to σ_dc at all frequencies. The ac conductivity obeys the relation σ_ac(ω)=Aω ^S over a considerable range of low temperatures. Values of exponent S are nearly equal to unity at about 78 K and the values decrease non-linearly with the increase of temperature. Values of the number density of states at Fermi level (N(E _F)) have been evaluated at 80 K assuming values of electron wave function decay constant α to be 0.5 (Å)^?1. Values of N(E _F) have the order 10²⁰ which are well within the range suggested for localized states. Present values of N(E _F) are smaller than those for tungsten phosphate glasses.     

Electrochemical activities of yttrium doped spinel LiMn2O4

It was found for the first time that the catalysis of yttrium doping of spinel LiMn₂O₄ can enhance the electrochemical activities of manganese, leading to both improvement of electrochemical capacity and reactivity with the electrolyte of manganese. A proper amount of doping was 0.5%, and such yttrium-doped sample, Li(Y_0.005Mn_0.995)₂O₄, had an initial capacity of 130 mAh g⁻¹ over that of the undoped one with the capacity retention to reach 92.3% exceeding that of the undoped one at 100th cycle.     

The magnetic behaviour of the magnetically diluted spinel compound Fe0.6Mg1.6Ni0.1Ti0.7O4 studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy

From a new magnetically diluted spinel oxide with composition Fe_0.6Mg_1.6Ni_0.1Ti_0.7O₄ an as-prepared sample and one after reheating three times have been investigated with Mössbauer spectroscopy. The spectra of the as-prepared sample clearly show a typical superparamagnetic behaviour of magnetic clusters with diverging sizes. On the other hand, the reheated sample exhibits a sharp magnetic transition at 16 K. External-field Mössbauer measurements of the latter reveal spin canting to be exclusively present on the octahedral sites which disappears at the magnetic transition temperature. These results show that this spinel compound exhibits a transition to a spin-glass for which the random freezing only occurs on the octahedral sites.     

Study of ac hopping conductivity on one—dimensional nanometre systems

In this paper, we establish a one-dimensional random nanocrystalline chain model, we derive a new formula of ac electron－phonon－field conductance for electron tunnelling transfer in one-dimensional nanometre systems. By calculating the ac conductivity, the relationship between the electric field, temperature and conductivity is analysed, and the effect of crystalline grain size and distortion of interfacial atoms on the ac conductance is discussed. A characteristic of negative differential dependence of resistance and temperature in the low-temperature region for a nanometre system is found. The ac conductivity increases linearly with rising frequency of the electric field, and it tends to increase as the crystalline grain size increases and to decrease as the distorted degree of interfacial atoms increases.     

Magnetic and Rheological Characterization of Fe3O4 Ferrofluid: Particle Size Effects

Magnetite particles of different diameters were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation technique and the same are dispersed in dodecane to prepare a magnetic fluid. The results of X-ray diffraction, magnetization measurements, ac susceptibility and viscosity measurements are analyzed and discussed in the text.     

Structural and dielectric properties of barium-modified SrBi4Ti4O15 ceramics

Barium-modified strontium bismuth titanate ceramics with chemical formula Sr_1?xBa_xBi₄Ti₄O₁₅ (x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1) (SBBT) have been prepared by means of solid-state reaction technique and their structural and electrical properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction data confirm that all the compositions show orthorhombic structure without any deleterious phase. Scanning electron micrographs show plate like grain morphology with random orientation of platelets. The temperature-dependent dielectric study shows that the phase transition temperature decreases, but the dielectric constant increases with increase in Ba content. Complex impedance plots show that both grain and grain boundary effect on the resistance mechanisms in all the compositions. The values of the activation energy confirm that the oxygen vacancies play an important role in the conduction. The ac conductivity of SBBT ceramics increases as a function of frequency due to relaxation phenomenon which arises due to mobile charge carriers.     

Fe valence state at the surface of the Fe0.5Cu0.5Cr2S4 spinel

Here we present X‐ray absorption measurements of a vacuum cleaved Fe_0.5Cu_0.5Cr₂S₄ single crystal. Measurements at different positions on the cleaved sample surface clearly reveal a difference between the valence state of the Fe ions in the sur‐ face layers and the valency of the Fe ions present in the bulk. These results confirm the findings of recent measurements outlined previously. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Hydrothermal synthesis of spinel Li1+x Mn2O4 as cathode material for rechargeable lithium battery

Abstract

The hydrothermal synthesis of Li-Mn spinel oxide (Li_1+xMn₂O₄) was undertaken in order to develop high quality, low cost cathode material for a rechargeable lithium battery. In our experiments, γ-MnOOH, LiOH · H₂O and H₂O₂ were used as starting materials to synthesize Li-Mn spinel oxide under hydrothermal conditions of 180-230°C and about 1.0-2.8 MPa. The chemical composition and particle size of the Li_1+xMn₂O₄ is easily controlled in the hydrothermal reaction. The Li_1+xMn₂O₄ produced was characterized by X-ray diffraction, with the spinel phase having a Li/Mn ratio of 0.50-0.60. There is convincing evidence, as a result of this work, that our synthesis process is most suitable for producing high quality cathode material that can be used in a rechargeable lithium battery.     

Magnetic properties of ultra-fine particles of Mn0.5Fe0.5Fe2O4 spinel system

A systematic study of the magnetic properties of ultra-fine particles of Mn_0.5Fe_0.5Fe₂O₄ spinel system has been undertaken. The effect of temperature on the magnetic properties of particles and the ferrofluid has been studied. Analysis of the data yields information on the anisotropy constant, particle size distribution and superparamagnetic behaviour. The results are explained on the basis of existing theories.     

Synthesis, microstructure, dielectric and magnetic properties of Cu substituted Ni-Li ferrites

Cu substituted Ni-Li spinel ferrites were prepared by a conventional sol-gel auto-combustion method. The structure, surface morphology, dielectric and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, impedance spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer, respectively. X-ray diffraction studies reveal the single phase spinel structure of the ferrites and the crystallite size varies from 23 to 35 nm. Incorporation of Cu in the Ni-Li ferrites increases the grain size. The dielectric parameters such as ε´, ε′′, loss tan δ and ac conductivity (σ_ac) have been measured for the annealed samples in the temperature range from 35 to 200 °C and over the frequency range from 10¹ to 10⁷ Hz. The saturation magnetization and coercivity show a dependence on the composition and microstructure. The values of saturation magnetization vary from 25.6 to 33.6 emu/g with increase in x for samples annealed at 600 °C. The values of the coercivity increase from 170 to 203 Oe with increase in x.     

Impedance spectroscopy and conduction mechanism of multiferroic (Bi0.6K0.4)(Fe0.6Nb0.4)O3

Polycrystalline (Bi_0.6K_0.4) (Fe_0.6Nb_0.4)O₃ material has been prepared using a mixed-oxide route at 950 °C. It was shown by XRD that at room temperature structure of the compound is of single-phase with hexagonal symmetry. Some electrical characteristics (impedance, modulus, conductivity etc.) were studied over a wide frequency (1 kHz–1 MHz) and temperature (25–500 °C) ranges. The Nyquist plot (i.e., imaginary vs real component of complex impedance) of the material exhibit the existence and magnitude of grain interior and grain boundary contributions in the complex electrical parameters of the material depending on frequency, input energy and temperature. The nature of frequency dependence of ac conductivity follows Joncher׳s power law, and dc conductivity follows the Arrhenius behavior. The appearance of P–E hysteresis loop confirms the ferroelectric properties of the material with remnant polarization (2P_r) of 1.027 µC/cm² and coercive field (2E_c) of 16.633 kV/cm. The material shows very weak ferromagnetism at room temperature with remnant magnetization (2M_r) of 0.035 emu/gm and coercive field (2H_c) of 0.211 kOe.     

Pinned and entropic disordering of mixed spinel ferrite Ga0.8Fe0.2NiCrO4

Mössbauer and magnetic hysteresis measurements (T=1.4 K and H=-12 to+12 kOe) confirm the existence of pinned and entropic spins in the frustrated disordered spinel ferrite (Ga³⁺_0.8Fe³⁺_0.2) [Ni²⁺Cr³⁺]O₄, as suggested by earlier studies.     

Cluster spin glass behaviour of mixed spinel ferrite Ga0.8Fe0.2NiCrO4

Mössbauer effect, d. c. magnetisation and a. c. susceptibility measurements in disordered spinel ferrite Ga_0.8Fe_0.2NiCrO₄ (0.3≦T≦300 K, ?12≦H (external field) ≦12 kOe) show it to be a cluster spin glass where Gabay-Toulouse phase diagram transitions occur not for individual spins but for groups of correlated spins (clusters) whose effective spin's transverse and longitudinal components successively freeze.     

Impact of sonochemical synthesis condition on the structural and physical properties of MnFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles

Herein, we report sonochemical synthesis of MnFe₂O₄ spinel ferrite nanoparticles using UZ SONOPULS HD 2070 Ultrasonic homogenizer (frequency: 20 kHz and power: 70 W). The sonication time and percentage amplitude of ultrasonic power input cause appreciable changes in the structural, cation distribution and physical properties of MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles. The average crystallite size of synthesized MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles was increased with increase of sonication time and percentage amplitude of ultrasonic power input. The occupational formula by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for prepared spinel ferrite nanoparticles was (Mn_0.29Fe_0.42)[Mn_0.71Fe_1.58]O₄ and (Mn_0.28Fe_0.54) [Mn_0.72Fe_1.46]O₄ at sonication time 20 min and 80 min, respectively. The value of the saturation magnetization was increased from 1.9 emu/g to 52.5 emu/g with increase of sonication time 20 min to 80 min at constant 50% amplitude of ultrasonic power input, whereas, it was increased from 30.2 emu/g to 59.4 emu/g with increase of the percentage amplitude of ultrasonic power input at constant sonication time 60 min. The highest value of dielectric constant (ε′) was 499 at 1 kHz for nanoparticles at sonication time 20 min, whereas, ac conductivity was 368 × 10⁻⁹ S/cm at 1 kHz for spinel ferrite nanoparticles at sonication time 20 min. The demonstrated controllable physical characteristics over sonication time and percentage amplitude of ultrasonic power input are a key step to design spinel ferrite material of desired properties for specific application. The investigation of microwave operating frequency suggest that these prepared spinel ferrite nanoparticles are potential candidate for fabrication of devices at high frequency applications.     

Electromechanical properties of Co0.6 Zn0.4 Fe2O4 ferrite transducer

Co_0.6Zn_0.4Fe₂O₄ ferrite has been prepared by the general ceramic method. The resonance frequency of the disk for the radial and thickness mode was investigated as a function of mechanical stress. The increase of the resonance frequency of the transducer is attributed to domain wall motion inhibition. The increase of ultrasonic velocity with increasing mechanical stress can be explained as due to retarding the oscillation of the ferrimagnetic domains under applied high-frequency electric field. The induced strain increases the resonance frequency. The high values of the electromechanical coupling factor for the radial mode K_p, and thickness mode, K_t, indicate that this composition is useful for producing high-frequency ultrasonic waves that can be used in modern technology.     

Scaling of ac susceptibility and the nonlinear response function of high-temperature superconductors

The amplitude-dependent ac susceptibility of high-temperature superconductors is shown to obey some empirical scaling relations. We try to analyze this behavior by extending a dc nonlinear response function of mixed state to the ac cases. The derived equations for critical current and ac susceptibility X(T) agree with the scaling relations of experimental data.     

Kq, Scaling of ac susceptibility and the nonlinear response function of high-temperature superconductors

The amplitude-dependent ac susceptibility of high-temperature superconductors is shown to obey some empirical scaling relations. We try to analyze this behavior by extending a dc nonlinear response function of mixed state to the ac cases. The derived equations for critical current and ac susceptibility ξ(T) agree with the scaling relations of experimental data.