Investigation the effect of Cu2+ substitution on the electromagnetic properties of NiZn ferrite nanostructures

NiCuZn ferrite is the most important magnetic materials used for the manufacturing of multilayer chip inductors due to its low sintering temperature (<950°C) and good electromagnetic properties. In this study, the Ni0.50-xCuxZn0.5Fe2O4 nanopowders with different Cu contents (x=0.15, 0.20 and 0.25) were prepared through the nitrate-citrate auto-combustion route. The prepared powders were calcined, compacted and sintered at 900 °C for 4 h. The structural and magnetic properties were investigated as a function of Cu content. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the formation of cubic spinel structure for all samples. A significant increase in density from 4.66 to 4.82 g/cm3 were observed with increasing Cu content. The microstructural evaluations revealed that Cu can affect the densification and porosity of the samples. The electromagnetic results revealed that the magnetic permeability increased with Cu content and the highest value of 161 was obtained at x = 0.25.