Abstract
Zn0.5Co0.25Cu0.25Fe2−xLaxO4(x = 0.0, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.0375, 0.05) ferrite powders with uniform distribution of ions and close-packed configuration were prepared via sol-gel auto-combustion route. XRD spectra showed the formation of spinel-phase cubic crystalline structure. SEM results revealed that the irregularity in size and shape of particles increases, and particle distribution uniformity decreases with La3+ concentration. Moreover, each curve of the UV–vis spectra revealed two optical energy band gaps. More importantly, DC resistivity (ρ) and the activation energy (ΔE) have minimum values at x = 0.0375. The dielectric loss was explained according to Maxwell-Wager space charge polarization. The P-E loop showed the ferroelectric nature of the synthesized samples. Moreover, VSM results revealed that the as-prepared samples possessed maximum saturation magnetization (MS = 56.77 ± 0.0283) and 8–12 GHz operating microwave frequency (ωm) range at x = 0.0375. All these results show the potential of Zn0.5Co0.25Cu0.25Fe1.9625La0.0375O4 ferrite powders for X-band microwave applications.
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•Zn0.5Co0.25Cu0.25Fe2-xLaxO4 ferrite powders via simple sol-gel auto-combustion.•Crystallite size and lattice constant decrease with increasing La3+ cations.•Optical band gap energies and DC resistivity have minimum values at x = 0.0375.•The ferroelectric nature of all the samples was confirmed using the P-E loop.•Maximum magnetization saturation was observed at x = 0.0375.