In this work, the sol–gel route was employed to
synthesize
a series of Co2+-substituted strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles
(Sr1–x
Co
x
Fe12O19, x = 0.0–0.50)
to study the effect of cobalt ions doping on the magnetic, electrical,
and structural properties of the nanoparticles. The structural analysis
of the synthesized nanoparticles, performed by X-ray diffraction,
showed the formation of a hexagonal structure having no secondary
phases. The morphological analysis, performed through scanning electron
microscopy, revealed spherical shaped nanoparticles with uniform distribution.
Fourier transform infrared spectra demonstrated two consistent absorption
bands indicating the intrinsic stretching vibrations around 600 and
400 cm–1 for tetrahedral and octahedral sites, respectively.
It was observed through VSM that with cobalt addition, the saturation
magnetization increased and the coercivity decreased. Also, a typical
decreasing trend of DC electrical resistivity with increasing temperature
measured by a two-probe method confirmed the semiconducting behavior
of the synthesized samples. An impedance analyzer was used for the
dielectric measurements at room temperature against the alternating
frequency range of 250 Hz to 5 MHz, and it was found that the dielectric
constant decreased with the increase in cobalt content, suggesting
that the doped nanomaterials can be used for microwave absorption,
electronics, telecommunication, and other high-frequency applications.