Room-temperature multiferroic (magnetoelectric–magnetodielectric) coupling properties of hybrid microwave-sintered (1 − x)BaZr0.25Ti0.75O3 − xCo0.9Ni0.1Fe2O4 lead-free electromagnetic composites

This paper reports on the systematic investigation of the room-temperature magnetoelectric and magnetodielectric coupling coefficients on adding ferromagnetic phase ( x Co 0.9 Ni 0.1 Fe 2 O 4 , where x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) to the non-toxic lead-free ferroelectric phase (BaZr 0.25 Ti 0.75 O 3 ) prepared via efficient, ultrafast, eco-friendly hybrid microwave sintering at 1100 °C. Rietveld’s refinement of the observed diffraction patterns reflects mixed-phase cubic and tetragonal crystal symmetries with space group Pm3m and P4mm for the ferroelectric phase and cubic Fd-3m for a ferromagnetic phase in each composite which was further verified through micro-Raman spectroscopy. Ferroelectric-ferrite composite at x = 0.2, i.e., 0.8(BaZr 0.25 Ti 0.75 O 3 ) − 0.2(Co 0.9 Ni 0.1 Fe 2 O 4 ), had highest magnetoelectric and magnetodielectric coupling coefficients α ME = 2.71 mV / cm Oe and MD (%) = 5.19 at 1 kHz applied frequency, respectively. The existence of both ferroelectric and magnetic phases in each composite was confirmed using P – E and M – H hysteresis loops, respectively. This study provides an efficient alternative approach for developing multiferroic composites for various technological applications.