Structural and transport properties of nanocrystalline MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ synthesized by co-precipitation method

The nanocrystalline ferrites with spinel structures have been the focus of scientific investigation and received continuous interest in recent decades. The structural and electrical properties of these materials have become an important area of research and are attracting considerable interest due to broad range of applications. Spinel ferrites have been shown to exhibit interesting dielectric properties in the nanocrystalline form in comparison to the corresponding bulk materials. Structural and electrical properties of nanocrystalline MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ were investigated. X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy results showed that nanocrystalline MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ had cubic symmetry with 80% inversion. shows the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of MnFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ and Zn/sub 1-x/Ni/sub x/Fe/sub 2/O/sub 4/, used as model compounds. The electrical transport properties were investigated by employing impedance spectroscopy. It was observed that the dielectric constant decreased with the increase in frequency. The effects of frequency on dielectric properties were more prominent in the low frequency region, where dielectric constant increased as temperature was increased. (Orig./A.B.)