Microwave absorption analysis of Mg-Zr-substituted Ni-Zn spinel ferrites in the X-band

Due to the incessant increase in harmful electromagnetic pollution, microwave-absorbing materials (MAMs) are in great demand, and the present work is dedicated to meeting these requirements. Mg-Zr-doped Ni-Zn spinel ferrites Ni0.6Zn0.4(MgZr)xFe2-2xO4 (x = 0.05-0.20, Delta x = 0.05) have been successfully synthesized by a sol-gel citrate precursor route. The synthesized ferrites have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and their morphological structure has been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The complex electromagnetic parameters, determined by employing a vector network analyzer (VNA), are found to be enhanced with the addition of Mg and Zr. High dielectric and magnetic losses are observed for all of the samples. Among the various samples prepared in the series of Mg-Zr-doped Ni-Zn spinel ferrites, reflection loss (RL) as low as -35.10 dB has been obtained at a matching frequency of 10.552 GHz for the composition with x = 0.10 at a matching thickness of 4 mm.

Automated summary

This study aims to address the demand for microwave-absorbing materials (MAMs) due to the increasing harmful electromagnetic pollution. By synthesizing Mg-Zr-doped Ni-Zn spinel ferrites using a sol-gel citrate precursor route, the complex electromagnetic parameters were found to be enhanced, with some samples showing a reflection loss as low as -35.10 dB at specific conditions.