Dielectric, humidity behavior and conductivity mechanism of Mn_0.2Ni_0.3Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ ferrite prepared by co-precipitation method

Mn–Ni–Zn ferrite with the chemical formula of Mn_0.2Ni_0.3Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ was prepared by co-precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the prepared sample crystallizes in the cubic spinel structure with the space group of Fm3m. The morphological analysis of the sample was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The dielectric properties of Mn_0.2Ni_0.3Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ ferrite were studied in a frequency range from 20 Hz to 10 MHz and at a temperature range from 293 to 733 K. The dielectric constant decreases with the increasing frequency for all the temperature values chosen. The AC conductivity mechanism was found the small polaron type of conductivity, and in addition to that, the DC conductivity can be explained by Arrhenius type conductivity. According to the dielectric results, relaxation process fits Cole–Cole model. Finally, the effect of the relative humidity upon the impedance of the sample was discussed for a frequency range between 20 Hz and 10 MHz. It is found that the impedance values decrease almost linearly with the increasing % RH (relative humidity) values at low frequencies, while the impedance of the sample is independent of % RH at high frequencies.