Synthesis of composites and their characterization for high-frequency applications

[Display omitted] •Ferrite polymer nano-composites were designed and synthesized in a polypyrrole (ppy) matrix.•The dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreased as frequency increased.•Activation energy and DC resistivity exhibited similar trends.•The resulting samples, PF1 and PF2, were evaluated and found to be suitable for high-frequency applications. Nanocomposites operating at high frequencies have attracted a lot of interest as potential electrical and communications technologies. BaFe2O4/polypyrrole composite was prepared by using sol–gel method. The XRD showed the single-phase structure of ferrites nanoparticles diffused throughout the polypyrrole matrix. In order to compensate for the fact that polypyrrole is amorphous; spinel ferrite was added to nanocomposites, boosting their crystallite size from 20 to 52 nm. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were decreased as a function of the frequency by the addition of ferrites mixed with the polypyrrole. The addition of PPy to ferrites in all samples increased the DC resistivity and activation energy. The activation energy was found to increase from 0.11 to 0.39 eV. The ferromagnetic characteristics were determined by the magnetic loop. Coercivity, remanence magnetization, and saturation magnetization all increased with the ferrite content. The saturation magnetization Ms increased from 5 to 59 emu/g and the coercivity increased from 3 to 330 Oe. The enhancement in all above parameters concluded that prepared spinel ferrits maybe suitable for high-frequency applications.