Electromagnetic wave absorption performance of Ni doped Cu-ferrite nanocrystals

NixCu1−xFe2O4 nanocrystals were prepared by co-precipitation technique to study the electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption properties. The XRD and SEM results confirm the formation of single-phase cubic spinel structure and reveal that the crystallite size decreases with the addition of Ni content. The vibrating sample magnetometer results showed that the as-prepared material was soft magnetic and have potential applications in magnetic storage technology and field sensors. The dielectric parameters and EM wave absorption characteristics of NixCu1−xFe2O4 nanocrystals were studied in the frequency range of 1-18GHz using a vector network analyzer. The permittivity, impedance matching, and EM wave absorption of the materials are significantly improved with the increase in Ni content. The lowest value of reflection loss (RL) is observed −22.8 dB at 16.09 GHz (RL ≤ −10dB, absorption >90%), showing an optimal EM wave absorption performance, which might generate from the synergistic effect between relative permittivity and permeability.